May-Treanor, Branagh Lead the U.S. in Stavanger

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 1, 2010) - The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) remains undefeated after the competition pool play in the SWATCH FIVB World Tour ConocoPhillips Grand Slam in Stavanger, Norway. A total of three U.S. women’s teams have advanced to the single-elimination rounds, which wrap up with the semifinals and medal matches on Saturday.

May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh ranked seventh in the tournament, swept Norway’s 10th-seeded team Siri Bjorkesett and Ragnhild Aas, 21-10, 21-7 in 34 minutes on Thursday to continue their perfect set record for the tournament. The undefeated U.S. team received a bye in the second round on Friday where it will face the match-winner between No. 13 Maria Tsiartsiani and Vasiliki Arvanti from Greece and Austria’s Doris Schwaiger and Stefanie Schwaiger, ranked 11th.

No. 2 Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) went undefeated on Wednesday but fell to 15th-ranked Barbara Hansel and Sara “Monti” Montagnolli of Austria in their final pool play match on Thursday, 17-21, 13-21 in 39 minutes. The U.S. team finished second in Pool B and will play on Friday in Round 1 against 21st-seeded Cristine Santanna and Andrezza Martins das Chagas of Georgia.

Ashley Ivy (Arlington Texas) and Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.), ranked 16th, lost 17-21, 10-21 to the top-seeded team Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franka from Brazil in a 34-minute match. On Thursday, Ivy and Fendrick finished 1-2 in pool play and placed third in Pool A. They will play No. 3 Maria Antonelli and Talita Da Rocha Antunes from Brazil in Friday’s first round.

The No. 5-seeded team of Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Myers Beach, Fla.) claimed its first tournament victory over 12th-seeded Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti from Italy, 17-21, 21-19, 15-12 in 59 minutes. However, Akers and Turner will not advance in tournament play.

To begin men’s pool play, the U.S. team Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser won the battle over fellow U.S. rivals Matt Fuerbringer and Nick Lucena on Thursday. However, all four U.S. men’s teams are 1-1 entering the second day of pool play on Friday.

Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) beat Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 21-10, 20-22, 15-12 in a 60-minute match. For the afternoon match, Rogers and Dalhausser fell to 17th-seeded team Yaroslav Koshkarev and Igor Kolodinsky from Russia, 19-21, 15-21 in 41 minutes. The U.S. team will face the 32nd-ranked team of Iver Andreas Horrem and Oivind Hordvik from Norway to wrap up play in Pool J on Friday.

Fuerbringer and Lucena had a redeeming win in their afternoon match over Horrem and Hordvik, 21-12, 21-13 in 36 minutes. Fuerbringer and Lucena have their chance on Friday to face Koshkarev and Kolodinsky with hopes of advancing out of pool play.

No. 14 Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) took a first-match loss, in Pool L, to 19th-seeded Petr Benes and Premysl Kubala of the Czech Republic, 20-22, 15-21 in 43 minutes. For the afternoon match, Gibb and Rosenthal defeated 30th-seeded Hannes Brinkborg and Stefan Gunnarsson of Sweden, 21-19, 21-16 in 41 minutes. Gibb and Rosenthal are set to play the No. 3 seeded team of Pablo Allepuz Herrera and Adrian Collado Gavira from Spain.

Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) and Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.), 12th-seeded, triumphed over 21st-ranked Renato Gomes and Terceiro Jorge of Georgia, 21-16, 21-19 in 41 minutes for their opening match. In the afternoon, Keenan and Jennings fell to 28th-seeded Anders Lund Hoyer and Bo Soderberg from Denmark, 17-21, 20-22, in 48 minutes. On Friday, Keenan and Jennings will play their final Pool N match against No. 5 Pedro Henrique Cunha and Santos Barbosa Thiago from Brazil.

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