Weather Interrupts FIVB Beach Tourney in Rome

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 19, 2010) – Two U.S. women’s beach volleyball teams won on Wednesday, one lost and the men’s teams still haven’t played at the US$600,000 Foro Italico Beach Volley Grand Slam, part of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Rain and lightning surrounding the Parco del Foro Italico on Wednesday forced the postponement of eight men’s pool play matches, including the two matches involving U.S. teams.

On the women’s side, second-seeded Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) beat 15th-seeded Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland, 21-12, 21-18 in 34 minutes to lead Pool B.

In Pool E, fifth-seeded Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) won their second match, as did Austria’s 12th-seeded Sara Montagnolli and Barbara Hansel.

Branagh and May-Treanor beat Germany’s 21st-seeded Geeske Banck and Anja Gunther, 21-19, 21-12 in 43 minutes. They will play Hansel and Montagnolli on Thursday for the pool victory.

Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Myers Beach, Fla.), the tournament’s fourth seeds, were upset by 20th-seeded Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler of Germany, 21-19, 21-16 in 33 minutes. Now 1-1 in Pool D, Akers and Turner will need to beat Russia’s 13th-ranked Maria Bratkova and Evgenia Ukolova on Thursday to ensure they advance to the first round, which will also be played on Wednesday.

On the men’s side, the top-ranked team of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) will face their compatriots Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) in their first pool A match on Thursday.

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.), ranked 21st, will face Switzerland’s 12th-seeded Martin Laciga and Jefferson Bellaguarda in Pool N.

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

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour