Two U.S. Men’s Teams Still Perfect in Poland

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 6, 2010) –  The U.S. men’s beach teams of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers and also Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal advanced to the second round of the main draw of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Mazurey Orlen Grand Slam in Stare Jablonki, Poland.

Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) defeated Brazil’s 16^th-ranked Marques Harley Silva and Pedro Solberg Salgado, 21-19, 25-23, in 52 minutes in their final round of pool play on Friday. Saturday, they will play the winner of Andy Ces and Kevin Ces of France, seeded 31^st, and Netherlands’ 12^th-seeded Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Shuil at 1 p.m. (local time).

The U.S. pair also clinched the FIVB World Tour championship Thursday after they defeated Damian Wojtasik and Rafal Szternel of Poland, ranked 32^nd, 21-19, 21-14 in 38 minutes in pool play. They are the first U.S. men’s pair to reach the points title since the 1992-1993 tour, when Sinjin Smith (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Randy Stoklos (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) finished first.

Dalhausser and Rogers entered the event with a combined 81-19 record against the Mazurey Orlen Grand Slam field. The pair is in its fourth year competing together and captured the FIVB World Championship title in 2007 before winning the gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean (Redondo Beach, Calif.), ranked seventh, won their final pool play match due to a forfeit by Brazil’s 10^th-seeded Henrique Cunha and Thiago Santos Barbosa. They won their pool 3-0 and will play in the second round against the winner of Poland’s ninth-seed, Michal Kadziola and Jakub Szalankiewicz, and the 15^th-seed, Igor Kolodinksy and Yaroslav Koshkarev of Russia, at 1 p.m. (local time).

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) were topped by Ces and Ces 16-21, 24-26, in 47 minutes and did not advance to the single-elimination tournament.

For the U.S. women, 19^th-seeded Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.) were defeated by Georgia’s 16^th-seeded Christine Santanna and Andrezza Martins das Chagas, 21-18, 12-21, 15-77 in 51 minutes on Friday in the first round of single elimination.

Brooke Hansen (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.), ranked 21^st, were defeated by Australia’s 27^th-ranked Louise Bawden and Becchara Palmer, 21-16, 18-21, 15-17 in 1 hour and 1 minute in the first round of single elimination.

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

Tags: Angie Akers, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brad Keenan, Casey Jennings, Lauren Fendrick, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner