Two U.S. Women’s Beach Teams are 3-0 in Austria

Erin Campbell
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6864
E-Mail: erin.campbell@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 29, 2010) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball teams of Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh and also Jen Kessy and April Ross completed pool play undefeated on Thursday at the 2010 FIVB World Tour A1 Grand Slam in Klagenfurt, Austria.

Both teams advanced straight to Friday’s second round.

Fourth seeded May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) defeated Czech Republic’s 13^th-seeded Hana Klapalova and Lenka Hajeckova, 19-21, 21-14, 15-6 in 46 minutes. They will continue play Friday against Austria’s ninth-seed Barbara Hansel and Sara “Monti” Montagnolli at 9 a.m. (local time).

Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), ranked sixth, defeated the 11^th-seeded Sanne Keizer and Marleen Van Iersel of Netherlands due to an injury forfeit by the Dutch team. The pair will play in round two against Kriystina Kolocova and Marketa Slukova of Czech Republic, seeded 16^th, at 9 a.m. (local time).

Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.), seeded seventh, forfeited their final pool play match against 10^th-seeded Doris Schwaiger and Stefanie Schwaiger of Austria due to injury. They will not play in the next round.

Ashley Ivy (Arlington, Texas) and Lisa Rutledge (Vista, Calif.) ranked 17^th, defeated Austria’s 29^th-seeded Kerstin Eva Maria Pichler and Cornelia Rimser, 13-21, 21-19, 20-18 in 58 minutes. The duo was then topped by 23^rd-seeded Liliana Fernandez Stiner and Elsa MacMillan Baquerizo of Spain, 21-16, 14-21, 14-16 in 46 minutes. Ivy and Rutledge finished pool play 1-2 and did not advance.

Top-seeded Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) opened the men’s main draw with a 21-16, 16-21, 16-14, win over Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), seeded 16^th, in 1 hour, 2 minutes.  They then defeated Austria’s 32^nd-seeded Clemens Doppler and Matthias Mellitzer, 21-18, 21-15 in 44 minutes. The U.S. pair will conclude pool play against Portugal’s 17^th-ranked Miguel Maia and Pedro Rosas on Friday at noon (local time).

Gibb and Rosenthal defeated Maia and Rosas, 21-12, 21-16 in 36 minutes. They will finish pool play against Doppler and Mellitzer on Friday at noon (local time).

Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), the 12^th seeds, were defeated by Czech Republic’s Petr Benes and Premysl Kubala, seeded 21^st, 21-18, 21-16 in 41 minutes. The pair bounced back and topped Germany’s 28^th-seeded Sebastian Dollinger and Stefan Windscheif, 15-21, 21-18, 15-12 in 55 minutes. They will conclude pool play Friday against Spain’s Pablo Allepuiz Herrara and Adrian Gavira Collado, seeded fifth, at noon (local time).

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) were topped by Spain’s 30^th-seeded Raul Mesa and Inocencio Carrillo, 34-36, 14-21 in 40 minutes. They then were defeated by 14th-ranked Marques Silva Harley and Pedro Solberg Salgado of Brazil, 17-21, 15-21. They will play Friday in the final round of pool play and face third-ranked Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil at 11 a.m. (local time).

For more information on the FIVB World Tour A1 Grand Slam 10, click here.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, 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