Dalhausser, Rogers Win Fifth FIVB Gold Medal of 2010

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 11, 2010) – The U.S. men’s beach volleyball team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser won its fifth gold medal of the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour on Sunday at the US$600,000 1to1 energy Grand Slam in Gstaad, Switzerland.

Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.), the tournament’s top seeds who have won seven FIVB medals in eight events this year, defeated Germany’s eighth-ranked Eric Koreng and David Klemperer in the final, 21-18, 21-13 in 43 minutes in the gold medal match.

Dalhausser and Rogers avenged a three-set loss to the Germans at last week’s Norwegian Grand Slam in Stavanger. Overall, Dalhausser and Rogers have a 6-1 match edge over Klemperer and Koreng internationally.

Dalhausser and Rogers increased their point leadership on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour by 1,520 points over Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil (5,180 to 3,660).

In winning their second SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam gold medal this season in four “major” events, Dalhausser and Rogers shared the $43,500 first-place prize while the Germans split $29,500 for their silver medal finish. The Americans won the season’s first Grand Slam stop in Rome followed by a silver medal in Moscow and a third-place finish last week in Stavanger.

Dalhausser and Rogers’ 13th SWATCH title in 33 FIVB starts together also moved the Americans into a tie for fourth on the international gold medal list with Brazilians Roberto Lopes and Ricardo Santos.  Emanuel has been a part of the top three teams on the list, including 33 gold medals with Ricardo Santos, and 15 titles each with Ze Marco de Melo and Jose Loiola.

In Sunday’s semifinals, Rogers and Dalhausser beat seventh-ranked Mariusz Prudel and Grzegorz Fijalek, 21-14, 21-14 in 42 minutes.

The U.S. teams will be back in the United States this week preparing for the AVP Nivea Tour Hermosa Beach Open.

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

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB World Tour, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers