U.S. Beach Teams Playing in Poland This Week

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 2, 2010) – There is little rest for U.S. beach volleyball teams, who will go from Klagenfurt, Austria to Stare Jablonki, Poland this week for the US$600,000 Mazury Orlen Grand Slam, the final grand slam of the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

The tournament begins Tuesday with women’s qualifying and will conclude Sunday with the men’s medal matches.

Due to a USA Volleyball registration error, two top U.S. women’s teams will compete in the qualifying tournament in Poland.

Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), who finished tied for fifth in Austria, are the top-ranked team in qualifying in Poland and received a bye to the second round.

Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.), who did not advance out of pool play in Austria, are the second-ranked team in qualifying and also got a first-round bye.

Two other U.S. women’s teams are scheduled to begin the competition in the main draw on Wednesday: Misty May-Treanor (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Nichole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and the new team of Brooke Hansen (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.).

On the men’s side, the U.S. men’s team of Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), who tied for fifth in Austria, are ranked second in the qualifying bracket and are scheduled to begin play on Wednesday.

Three other U.S. men’s teams are scheduled to begin main draw play on Thursday: Top-seeded Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who won their sixth 2010 FIVB gold medal in Austria; Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), who won their first FIVB medal as a team when they finished second in Austria; and Casey Jennings (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.), who did not advance out of pool play in Austria.

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

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