Kessy, Ross to Play Germans for Rome Gold

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 22, 2010) – The U.S. women’s team of Jen Kessy and April Ross will play for gold on Sunday while the United States’ Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers have reached the men’s semifinals at the Foro Italico Beach Volley Grand Slam in Rome a US$600,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour event.

In Saturday’s second semifinal, Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), seeded second in the tournament, defeated compatriots Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.), ranked fifth, 21-16, 21-17 in 49 minutes.

Kessy and Ross will face Germany’s seventh-seeded Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig in Sunday’s gold–medal match. The Germans won the opening semifinal match on Saturday with a 21-15, 21-18 victory in 42 minutes over third-seeded Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes of Brazil.

“I am excited to play Sara and Laura,” said Kessy, who has teamed with Ross to post a 5-1 record against Goller and Ludwig on the international tour. “We train a lot with them in the winter in Southern California. They are good friends and the match tomorrow will be very competitive. We’ll have to play our best to win.”

Branagh and May-Treanor will play Antonelli and Antunes in Sunday’s bronze-medal match.

In the men’s bracket, top-ranked Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) had to work hard on Saturday to reach the semis.

They opened by defeating Germany’s 29th-seeded Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik, 2-1 (25-23, 17-21, 15-11) in the second round.

In the third round, they beat Brazil’s 13th-seeded Ricardo Santos and Marcio Araujo, 2-1 (13-21, 21-15, 18-16) in 59 minutes.

Sunday they will face fifth-seeded Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera of Spain in the first semifinal while Germany’s second-ranked Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann will play Brazil’s third-seeded Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego in the second match.

The men’s medal matches will be played Sunday night.

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

Tags: April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jennifer Kessy, Misty May-Treanor, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers