Women's Beach Teams Win on Day One

B.J. Hoeptner Evans May 18, 2010

5_8_branagh_receives_with_may-treanor

Photo: FIVB

Nicole Branagh, right, receives the ball as Misty May-Treanor gets ready to make a play at the FIVB World Tour event in Shanghai.

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org  

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 18, 2010) – Three U.S. women’s beach volleyball teams began pool play on Tuesday in Rome with victories at the US$600,000 Foro Italico Beach Volley Grand Slam, part of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

The team of Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), ranked second in the tournament, defeated Switzerland’s 15th-seeded Simone Kuhn and
Nadine Zumkehr, 21-12, 21-18 in 34 minutes on Tuesday.

Kessy and Ross will play Netherlands’ Sanne Keizer and Marleen Van Iersel, ranked 18th, in their second pool play match on Wednesday.

Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Myers Beach, Fla.), the tournament’s fourth seeds, came back to defeat Norway’s 29th-ranked Janne Kongshavn and Ingrid Torlen, 2-1 (21-15, 15-21, 16-14) in 52 minutes.

Akers and Turner will play Germany’s 20th-seeded Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler in their second pool play match on Wednesday.

Fifth-ranked Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) also had to come back to win a late-night match that began at 10:30 p.m. in Rome. They defeated China’s 28th-seeded Ying Huang and Yuan Yue, 2-1 (21-13, 16-21, 15-12).

Branagh and May-Treanor will face Germany’s 21st-seeded Geeske Banck and Anja Gunther on Wednesday.

Men’s main draw play will begin on Wednesday as well. The U.S. team of Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), which was scheduled to play in the qualifying round on Tuesday, withdrew from the tournament.

The U.S. men’s teams of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) along with Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) are scheduled to play on Wednesday.

For more information about the FIVB World Tour event in Brazil, visit the SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour web site.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jennifer Kessy, Matt Fuerbringer, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Tyra Turner, U.S. Men's Beach Team, U.S. Women's Beach Team