U.S. Women’s Beach Teams Survive Qualification

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (August 3, 2010) –  The U.S. women’s beach teams of Jen Kessy and April Ross and also Angie Akers and Tyra Turner make it through the qualification round on Tuesday at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Mazurey Orlen Grand Slam in Stare Jablonki, Poland.

The two teams competed in the qualification round due to a USA Volleyball registration error. Both teams had a bye in the first round of qualification.

Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), seeded first in qualification, defeated Sweden’s 17^th-seeded Isabella Forrer and Joana Heidrich, 21-19, 21-17, in 45 minutes. They earned a fifth seed in the main draw and will begin pool play against compatriots Brooke Hansen (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.), ranked 21^st, at noon (local time) on Wednesday. Kessy and Ross will then play Russia’s 28^th-ranked Ekaterina Khomyakova and Anastasia Vasina at 5 p.m. (local time).

The qualification round’s second-seed, Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.), topped China’s Jiegiong Jin and Anna Hu, seeded 18^th, 21-17, 21-16, in 39 minutes. They will enter the main draw as the 19^th seed and will open pool play against 14^th-ranked Maria Tsiartsiani and Vasiliki Arvanti of Greece, at 11 a.m. (local time). The U.S. duo will then play Germany’s third-ranked Sarah Goller and Laura Ludwig at 5 p.m. (local time).

The other two U.S. women’s teams will begin the tournament with main draw pool play on Wednesday.

Hansen and Fendrick will play the 12^th-ranked Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr of Sweden in their second pool play match at 5 p.m. (local time).

Misty May-Treanor (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) open up play ranked sixth and will play Australia’s Louise Bawden and Becchara Palmer, seeded 27^th, at 1 p.m. (local time). They will then play Erika Nystrom and Emilia Nystrom of Finland, ranked 22rd, at 5 p.m. (local time).

Four U.S. men’s teams are also scheduled to play in the event. Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), seeded third, will open the qualification round Wednesday and face Poland’s 30^th-seeded Marek Leznicki and Michal Makowski at 2 p.m. (local time). If they win, they will play the winner of Norway’s 19^th-seeded Andrews Horrem Iver and Oivind Hordvik and Czech Republic’s Martin Tichy and Jan Dumek, seeded 22^nd, at 3 p.m. (local time).

Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) are just coming off an FIVB win in Austria and will have an automatic bid to the main draw.

 Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa,Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) are hoping to grab their second FIVB medal of the year this weekend. The pair comes in hot off their second place finish in Austria behind Dalhausser and Rogers.

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) hope to improve upon last week’s finish as they failed to advance from pool play.

For more information on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Mazurey Orlen Grand Slam, click here.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brad Keenan, Casey Jennings, FIVB World Tour, Jennifer Kessy, Lauren Fendrick, Matt Fuerbringer, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner