Three U.S. Beach Teams Undefeated in China

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 28, 2010) – Three U.S. women’s beach teams remain undefeated after the first day of main draw play at the US$190,000 Sanya Open, part of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour, in Sanya, China. But all three face tough matches on Friday.

The third-seeded U.S. team of Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) breezed through its first two matches, defeating Germany’s 30th-ranked Stefanie Huttermann and Anni Schumacher, 21-12, 21-8 in 31 minutes in Thursday’s first round.

They then beat Italy’s 19th-ranked Marta Menegatti and Valeria Rosso, 21-16, 21-13 in 37 minutes.

However, in the third round, Walsh and Branagh will have to face their U.S. compatriots Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), who are ranked sixth.

Kessy and Ross opened Thursday by beating Great Britain’s 27th-ranked Denise Johns and Lucy Boulton, 21-19, 21-11 in 41 minutes.

Kessy and Ross needed a major run in the third set of their second-round match against 11th-seeded Maria Tsiartsiani and Vassiliki Arvaniti from Greece. The U.S. team trailed 10-5 and then managed to cut the deficit to 13-12. The Greeks had two match points at 14-12, but Kessy and Ross scored the final four points to win 16-14. The final score was 21-16, 14-21, 16-14 and the match took 46 minutes.

The seventh-seeded U.S. team of Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.) also won its first two matches, but will have to face the second-seeded German team of Laura Ludwig and Sara Goller in the third round.

Akers and Turner opened Thursday with a first-round win over Poland’s 26th-seeded Kinga Kolosinska and Katarzyna Urban, 21-17, 21-17 in 34 minutes. In the second round, Akers and Turner topped Brazil’s 10th-ranked Maria Clara Salgado and Carolina Salgado, 21-16, 21-18 in 33 minutes.

The U.S. team of Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.), which had to win two country qualifier matches and one qualification match to advance to the main draw, will play in the consolation bracket on Friday after losing its second-round match.

Fendrick and Hanson defeated Germany’s 17th-ranked Rieke Brink-Abeler and Angelina Grun in the first round on Thursday, 21-17, 21-19 in 39 minutes. However, the pair fell to the tournament top seeds, Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China, 21-13, 21-14 in the second round.

Fendrick and Hanson will play Japan’s Satoko Urata and Takemi Nishibori, seeded 31st, on Friday.

The medal matches will be played on Sunday (Oct. 31).

For more information on the event, click here.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB beach, Jennifer Kessy, Kerri Walsh, Lauren Fendrick, Nicole Branagh, Tyra Turner