Gibb, Rosenthal Pull Upset in Patria Direct Open

Candice Kasischke
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: candice.kasischke@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 17, 2010) – The U.S. men’s beach volleyball team of Jake Gibb (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Sean Rosenthal (Corona Del Mar, Calif.) had a bright spot on Thursday in what has been a difficult international season.

At the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Patria Direct Open in the Czech Republic Gibb and Rosenthal, the tournament’s 17th-seeded team, upset the top-seeded U.S. men’s team of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) in the second round, 21-14, 23-21, in 46 minutes.

“We have really been struggling this year,” Gibb said in an FIVB press release. “The big difference today was Sean’s serving along with our ability to side out effectively. Any time you beat Phil and Todd; you have posted a great win. This should really help our confidence, but tomorrow we face more tough teams starting with the Poles.”

“This season has been tough with all of the traveling,” Rosenthal added. “The good thing is that we are 8-0 in Prague. We love the city, we love the people, we love the food and we especially love the facility. Today’s two wins were really important for us mentally as we had not been playing well lately.”

On Friday, Gibb and Rosenthal are set to play eight-seeded Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel of Poland. The winner will advance to quarterfinal match later in the afternoon against fifth-ranked Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu of China or 13th-seeded Pedro Cunha and Thiago Santos Barbosa of Brazil. Dalhausser and Rogers will battle Friday in the consolation bracket.

Last week at the Russian Gland Slam in Moscow, Gibb and Rosenthal placed ninth overall and lost to Dalhausser and Rogers, 21-14, 21-8 in round two. To start the tournament in Patria, Gibb and Rosenthal claimed a victory against Russia’s 16th-ranked Serguei Prokopiev and Yury Bogatov, 21-12, 21-14, in 37 minutes in round one.

Dalhausser and Rogers began the tournament with a tight 17-21, 23-21, 15-13 victory over 32nd-seeded Chris McHugh and Josh Slack of Australia in 61 minutes. The U.S. team of Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.), seeded 14th, fell in a second-round match to 13th-seeded Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany 18-21, 21-17, 15-9 in 1 hour and 3 minutes.

Keenan and Jennings won their first-round match in 40 minutes against 19th-ranked Karl Jaani and Rivo Vesik of Estonia, 19-21, 17-21. After their second-round loss, they will face Matteo Ingrosso and Nicolai Paolo of Italy in the consolation bracket.

Václav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic, was part of the center court crowd on Thursday at Štvanice Stadium on the River Vitava.

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

Tags: FIVB, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Philip Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers, U.S. Beach Team, U.S. Men's Beach Team