U.S. Women Continue to Dominate in Moscow

Erin Campbell
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6864
E-Mail: erin.campbell@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 10, 2010) –  The three U.S. women’s teams competing in the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam Presented by Seat in Moscow, Russia, continued to win through day two of the main draw Thursday. All three teams finished first in their respective pools with perfect 3-0 records.

Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), the tournament’s second-seeded team, defeated Sahne Keizer and Marleen Van Iersel, ranked 18^th 21-17, 21-19, in 43 minutes. Later in the day, Kessy and Ross defeated Greece’s 15^th-ranked Maria Tsiartsiani and Vasiliki Arvanti, 21-14, 19-21, 15-12, in 54 minutes. The pair is scheduled to face the winner of Friday’s first round match between 12^th-ranked Angela Vieira and Leão Vanilda dos Santos of Brazil and Czech Republic’s Hana Klapolova and Lenka Hajeckova, ranked 16^th, on Saturday.

Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.), seeded fourth, defeated Belgium’s 20^th-ranked Liesbet Van Breedam and Liesbeth Mouha, 21-14, 19-21, 20-18 in 57 minutes and Sweden’s Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr, ranked 13^th, 23-21, 22-20 in 35 minutes. Saturday, the U.S. team will play the winner of the first-round match between Anastasia Vasina and Ekaterina Khomyakova of Russia, ranked ninth, and 21^st-seeded Bibiana Candelas and Mayra Garcia of Mexico.

Misty May-Treanor (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), ranked fifth, defeated Candelas/Garcia, 21-18, 21-19 in 40 minutes. They finished the day with a win over Brazil’s 12^th-ranked Angela Vieira and Leao Vanilda dos Santos, 21-14, 22-20 in 43 minutes. The pair will play the winner of the first-round contest between Italy’s Daniela Gioria and Giulia Momoli, ranked 27^th, and China’s Ying Huang and Yue Yuan, ranked 29^th, Saturday.

The U.S. men’s beach teams also had an overall successful day, posting three pool-play wins and one inevitable loss due to scheduling. Top-ranked Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) defeated their 17^th-seeded compatriots, Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.)  and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) in a three-set match, 21-12, 19-21, 15-8 in 54 minutes. Dalhausser/Rogers are scheduled to play at 10 a.m. (local time) against Kazakhstan’s Alexey Sidorenko and Alexandr Dyachenko, ranked 32^nd, on Friday. They will finish pool play facing Norway’s 16^th-ranked Tarjei Skarlund and Martin Spinnangr.

Jennings/Keenan play at 10 a.m. (local time) against Skarlund/Spinnangr . They’ll finish pool play against Sidorenko/Dyachenko.

Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), seeded 18^th, defeated Sweden’s Martin Laciga and Jefferson Bellaguarda, ranked-15^th, 13-21, 21-19, 15-11 in 56 minutes. The pair will start Friday at 10 a.m. (local time) playing second-ranked Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil and will finish pool play with Austria’s 31^st-ranked Clemens Doppler and Matthias Melitzer.

Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), ranked 22^nd, defeated 11^th seeded Marques Silva Harvey and Solberg Salgado Pedro, 25-23, 21-18 in 49 minutes. The duo will start Friday at 1 p.m. (local time) facing sixth-ranked David “Hase” Klemperer and Eric Koreng of Germany and will wrap up pool play against Canada’s Richard Van Huizen and Christian Redmann, ranked 27^th.

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, Brad Keenan, Casey Jennings, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Kessy, Matt Fuerbringer, Nick Lucena, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner