Kessy, Ross Advance to Fourth Round in Norway

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 12, 2010) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Jen Kessy and April Ross has advanced to the fourth round of the US$380,000 Otera Open in Kristiansand, Norway, while two U.S. men’s teams went undefeated on their first day of main draw play on Thursday.

Fifth-seeded Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) defeated their 13th-seeded compatriots Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.), 21-19, 21-19 in 43 minutes in Thursday’s third round of the Otera Open, part of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Kessy and Ross will face top-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca in Friday’s fourth round. Akers and Turner are in the consolation bracket where they will play Belgium’s 23rd-seeded Liesbet Van Breedam and Liesbeth Mouha on Friday.

The U.S. women’s team of Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.), ranked 16th, playing in the consolation bracket, upset Brazil’s second-seeded Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes on Thursday, 21-19, 23-21 in 43 minutes to eliminate the Brazilians from the tournament.

But Hanson and Fendrick suffered their own second loss in the next round to Van Breedam and Mouha, 21-16, 21-16 in 42 minutes, and will finish the tournament tied for 13th place.

On the men’s side, the top-ranked team of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and the fourth-seeded team of Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), each went undefeated on Thursday.

Dalhausser and Rogers opened with a 21-18, 21-15 victory in 37 minutes over Ukraine’s 32nd-seeded Sergiy Popov and Valeriy Samoday in the first round. In the second round, Dalhausser and Rogers topped Georgia’s 17th-seeded Renato "Geor" Gomes and Jorge "Gia" Terceiro, 2-1 (21-16, 18-21, 15-10) in 58 minutes.

Dalhausser and Rogers will play Norway’s ninth-seeded Martin Spinnangr and Tarjei Skarlund in Friday’s third round.

Fuerbringer and Lucena defeated 29th-ranked Matteo Martino and Paolo Nicolai of Italy in the first round, 2-1 (25-23, 18-21, 15-11) in 61 minutes. In the second round, Fuerbringer and Lucena took down 20th-ranked Philip Gabathuler and Jan Schnider of Switzerland, 21-19, 21-12 in 38 minutes.

Fuerbringer and Lucena will play Brazil’s fifth-seeded Pedro Salgado and Harley Marques in the third round on Friday.

For more information on this and other SWATCH FIVB World Tour events, click here.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brooke Hanson, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jennifer Kessy, Lauren Fendrick, Matt Fuerbringer, Nick Lucena, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner