Fendrick, Ivy Qualify for Stavanger Main Draw

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 29, 2010) - The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Lauren Fendrick and Ashley Ivy qualified for the main draw of the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour ConocoPhillips Grand Slam at Vaagen Harbour courts on Tuesday in Stavanger, Norway.

Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Ivy (Arlington, Texas), seeded fourth in the qualification round, defeated 29th-seeded Lauren Menon and Toti Giulia from Italy, 21-11, 21-14 in 32 minutes, in their first match.

In Round 2, Fendrick and Ivy swept 13th-seeded Danielle da Conceicao Cunha Vivian and Taiana Lima of Brazil, 21-19, 21-18 in 40 minutes. The U.S. team was ranked 16th and will play in Pool A in the main draw, which begins Wednesday.

Ivy and Fendrick will face 17th-seeded Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler of Germany in the morning and will play Rita Eritslan and Cindy Treland of Norway, seeded 32nd, in the afternoon. On Thursday, they will play the top-seeded team of Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca from Brazil.

The United States’ Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) are two-time gold medal winners in Stavanger, including the 2009 FIVB World Championship. This year, the U.S. team is seeded second and will play in Pool B facing Charlotte Dyhr and Lotte Vestergaard of Denmark, seeded 31st, on Wednesday morning and 18th-ranked Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland in the afternoon.

The fifth-seeded U.S. team of Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Myers Beach, Fla.) will play in Pool E and will face 28th-seeded  Maloes Wesselink and Madelein Meppelink of Scotland in their Wednesday morning pool play match. Akers and Turner will then face 21st- seeded Cristine Santanna and Andrezza Martins das Chagas of Georgia in round two.  Akers and Turner placed fifth in the FIVB World Championship in Stavanger last year.

Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), ranked seventh, will play in Pool G with an opening match against 26th-seeded team Kristyna Kolocova and Marketa Slukova of Czech Republic. The U.S. team will then battle 23rd-seeded Louise Bawden and Becchara Palmer of Australia.

On the men’s side, the U.S. beach team of Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.) will compete in the qualification bracket on Wednesday with hopes of winning their way into the main draw, which begins Thursday. The U.S. team, which is ranked fourth in the qualifying bracket, is matched up against Norway’s 30th-ranked Magnus Borge Johansen and Petter Biornak in the first of two qualification matches.

The three U.S. men’s teams advancing straight to the first round are top-seeded Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.), Sean Rosenthal (Corona Del Mar, Calif.) and Jake Gibb (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and team of Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) and Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.).

More information is available on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour web site.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Ashley Ivy, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brad Keenan, Casey Jennings, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Kessy, Lauren Fendrick, Matt Fuerbringer, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner