Two U.S. Men’s Teams Sweep Day 1 in Poland

Erin Campbell August 05, 2010

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Angie Akers and Tyra Turner advance to the second round of the main draw.

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 5, 2010) –  The U.S. men’s beach teams of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers and also Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal both went undefeated in the first two rounds of main draw pool play on Thursday at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Mazurey Orlen Grand Slam in Stare Jablonki, Poland.

Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) defeated Damian Wojtasik and Rafal Szternel of Poland, ranked 32nd, 21-19, 21-14 in 38 minutes. The pair then defeated Sweden’s Martin Laciga and Jefferson Bellaguarda, seeded 17th, 22-20, 21-13 in 45 minutes. They will conclude pool play Friday against Brazil’s 16th-ranked Marques Harley Silva and Pedro Solberg Salgado at noon (local time).

Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean (Redondo Beach, Calif.), defeated Karl Jaani and Rivo Vesik of Estonia, seeded 26th, 22-20, 21-16 in 39 minutes. They then went on to top Czech Republic’s 23rd-ranked Petr Benes and Premysl Kubala, 21-17, 17-21, 15-6 in 56 minutes. The duo will finish pool play on Friday against Brazil’s 10th-seeded Henrique Cunha and Thiago Santos Barbosa at 5 p.m. (local time).

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) were topped by 15th-ranked Igor Kolodinsky and Yaroslav Koshkarev of Russia, 21-12, 21-11 in 36 minutes They were then defeated by the second-seeded Julius Brink and Jonas Eckermann of Germany, 21-17, 21-19 in 44 minutes. The U.S. pair will play Andy Ces and Kevin Ces of France, seeded 31st, at noon (local time) on Friday.

For the U.S. women, 19th-seeded Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.) got a bye into Friday’s second round after winning their pool.  They won their final pool play match on Thursday in a forfeit by 30th-ranked Jana Kohler and Julia Sude of Germany. They will play Georgia’s 16th-seeded Christine Santanna and Andrezza Martins das Chagas at 3 p.m. (local time).

Brooke Hansen (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.), ranked 21st, were defeated by 28th-ranked Ekaterina Khomyakova and Anastasia Vasina, 19-21, 21-13, 11-15 in 54 minutes in their final pool play match. However, they will play Friday in the first round of single elimination against Australia’s 27th-ranked Louise Bawden and Becchara Palmer at 11 a.m. (local time).

Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), seeded fifth, lost their final pool play match to the 12th-seeded Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr of Sweden, 18-21, 21-16, 9-15 in 48 minutes and did not advance out of the pool. 

Misty May-Treanor (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), ranked sixth, were defeated by 11th-ranked Maria-Clara Salgado Rufino and Carolina Solberg Salgado of Brazil, 21-18, 15-21, 10-15 in 53 minutes in their final pool play match and also did not advance.

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, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Kessy, Lauren Fendrick, Misty May-Treanor, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner