Dalhausser, Rogers Win Fourth '10 FIVB Gold Medal

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 20, 2010) – The U.S. beach volleyball team of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers defeated Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego on Sunday to capture their fourth 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal at the US$190,000 Patria Direct Open in Czech Republic.

Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.), the tournament’s top-ranked team, split $30,000 after posting a 21-15, 14-21, 15-11 victory over Alison and Emanuel in the 55-minute finale on the Štvanice Stadium center court before a crowd of 5,000 spectators.

To reach the gold medal match, Dalhausser and Rogers had to win five elimination matches Friday and Saturday after losing their second match in the Patria Direct Open on Thursday afternoon to their U.S. rivals, 17th-seeded Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.).  Dalhausser and Rogers avenged that setback with a 21-14, 18-21, 15-8 win in 60 minutes over Gibb and Rosenthal on Saturday to reach the semifinals.

The Patria Direct Open finale was the 45th time that Brazil and the United States have competed for a SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal with the South Americans holding a 24-21 edge in the title series.  Dalhausser and Rogers have now won their last five gold medal matches against Brazilians starting with a three-set win in the finals of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games over Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes followed by a gold medal win last August in August over Alison and Harley Marques in Klagenfurt.

With their fourth gold medal this season, Dalhausser and Rogers increased their SWATCH FIVB World Tour leadership by 60 points over Alison and Emanuel.  Dalhausser and Rogers, the only team to compete in all six FIVB “final fours” this season, have now compiled 3,740 points followed by Alison/Emanuel (3,020 points) and Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann of Germany (3,000), who lost to the U.S. team in Saturday’s semifinals.

Dalhausser and Rogers also won 2010 FIVB World Tour gold medals at events in in Brazil, Italy and Poland this season. They won their only silver medal last weekend in Moscow. They also had a fourth-place finish in May in Shanghai, China.

In the bronze medal match, the third-seeded Brink and Reckermann posted a 25-27, 21-9, 15-10 win in 66 minutes over fifth-seeded Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu of China.  In winning their third-straight bronze medal on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour, Brink and Reckermann shared the $15,000 third-place prize.  Wu and Xu, who became the first Chinese men’s team to win a SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal this past Monday in Russia in the 24-year history of the international circuit, split $11,200.

The SWATCH FIVB World Tour now takes a week’s break before resuming double gender competition June 28 in Norway for the $600,000 ConocoPhillips Grand Slam, the third of six “major” events on the 2010 calendar. The Stavanger finals are set July 3 for women and July 4 for men.

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

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers