Two U.S. Women's Teams Go Undefeated in Stavanger

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 30, 2010) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball teams of Jen Kessy and April Ross along with Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh went undefeated in the first day of main drawn pool play for the SWATCH FIVB World Tour ConocoPhillips Grand Slam on Wednesday in Stavanger, Norway.

The No. 2 seeded team of Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) are the defending champions of the 2009 FIVB World Championships in Stavenger and won both of their matches in Pool B. In the morning match, Kessy and Ross beat Charlotte Dyhr and Lotte Vestergaard of Denmark, seeded 31st, 21-7, 21-15 in 32 minutes. They won their afternoon match against 18th-ranked Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland, 13-21, 21-14, 15-11 in 45 minutes. Kessy and Ross will play the 15th-ranked team of Barbara Hansel and Sara “Monti” Montagnolli from Austria in their final pool play match Thursday.

May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), ranked seventh, did not even lose a set within first-day, pool play matches, each lasting 38 minutes. The U.S. team opened with a victory against 26th-seeded Kristyna Kolocova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic, 21-15, 21-19. May-Treanor and Branagh took another sweep, 21-14, 21-19 over 23rd-seeded Louise Bawden and Becchara Palmer of Australia. The U.S. team is at the top of their pool and will face 10th-seeded Siri Bjorkesett and Ragnhild Aas of Norway in Thursday’s final pool play match.

Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Ashley Ivy (Arlington, Texas), ranked 16th, went 1-1 to begin their tournament play. The U.S. team fell to 17th-seeded Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler of Germany, 23-25, 15-21 in 42 minutes in the morning match of Pool A. Fendrick and Ivy triumphed in their afternoon match against Rita Eritslan and Cindy Treland of Norway, seeded 32nd, 2-0 21-14, 21-15 in 33 minutes. On Thursday, the U.S. team will battle for a winning pool play record against by facing the top-seeded team Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franka from Brazil.

The fifth-seeded U.S. team of Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Myers Beach, Fla.) went 0-2 in Pool E. The team put up a good fight but fell to 28th-seeded Maloes Wesselink and Madelein Meppelink of Scotland, 15-21, 15-21 in 38 minutes. Akers and Turner took another loss but played a competitive match versus 21st- seeded Cristine Santanna and Andrezza Martins das Chagas of Georgia, 18-21, 19-21 in 32 minutes. The U.S. team will attempt to turn its results around on Thursday against the 12th-seeded team of Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti from Italy.

On the men’s side, the U.S. beach team of Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) won both matches in the qualification bracket on Wednesday. The U.S. team, ranked fourth in qualifying, swept Norway’s 30th-ranked Magnus Borge Johansen and Petter Biornak, 21-11, 21-13 in 35 minutes. Fuerbringer and Lucena defeated Igor Hernandez and Jesus Villafane of Venezuela, 14-21, 21-11, 15-13 in 49 minutes in their final qualifying match. The 16th-seeded U.S. team has secured its way into the main draw, which begins Thursday. Fuerbringer and Lucena are set to play 32nd-seeded Iver Andreas Horrem and Oivind Hordvik from Norway in their second pool play match.

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 (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and team of Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) and Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.).

Fuerbringer and Lucena and Rogers and Dalhausser are both selected to play in Pool J. To begin their tournament, the two U.S. rival teams will duel for a win to begin their pool play. Rogers and Dalhausser will play their afternoon match against 17th-seeded team Yaroslav Koshkarev and Igor Kolodinsky from Russia.

Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal, 14th-seeded, kick off their tournament play in Pool L against 19th-seeded Petr Benes and Premysl Kubala of the Czech Republic. In the afternoon, the team will face 30th-seeded Hannes Brinkborg and Stefan Gunnarsson of Sweden.

Jump-starting Pool N will be the 12th-seeded U.S. team of Keenan and Jennings facing 21st-seeded Renato Gomes and Terceiro Jorge of Georgia. Keenan and Jennings will wrap up their first day in their afternoon match versus 28th-seeded Anders Lund Hoyer and Bo Soderberg of Denmark.

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, FIVB beach, FIVB World Championship, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Kessy, Lauren Fendrick, Lauren Fendrick, Matt Fuerbringer, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Philip Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner