Ivy, Rutledge Win FIVB Country Quota in Thailand

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 2, 2010) – The U.S. beach volleyball team of Ashley Ivy and Lisa Rutledge won Tuesday’s country quota bracket, beating last week’s country quota winner Brooke Hanson and Lauren Fendrick, 21-19, 12-21, 15-9, to advance to Wednesday’s Qualification Tournament in the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT.

Ivy (Arlington, Texas) and Rutledge (Vista, Calif.) will be among 40 teams vying for eight remaining spots in Thursday’s opening main draw rounds featuring a 32-team, double-elimination format. The medal matches are set for Sunday on Karon Beach.

Ivy and Rutledge will be the second-seeded team in Wednesday’s qualification bracket and will have a bye into the second round, where they will face the winner of the first-round match between 31st-ranked Beh Shun Thing and Luk Teck Hua of Malaysia and Kazakhstan’s 34sth-seeded Lyudmila Issayeva and Inna Rakhmatulina.

After the two U.S. teams split the first two sets in the final country quota match, the tiebreaker was a game of runs. Ivy and Rutledge began the set 3-0, but then a four-point surge by Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) switched the lead to 7-6. With Ivy and Rutledge trailing 8-7, the duo scored six consecutive points to take control at 13-8, led by defensive plays by both players.  Rutledge ended the set with a block at 15-9.

“I’m just going all out,” Ivy said. “I’ve been plagued with injuries all year, but not enough to keep me from playing. I just thought ‘you can use it as an excuse or you can play it out’ and I’ve chosen to play it out. I was real excited to have my last practice of the season yesterday though. Lauren and Brooke had a phenomenal tournament last week, and obviously we know them very well. I’ve had success here but it hasn’t been the easy way. I think last year my Facebook status was ‘I like to do it the hard way in Thailand.’ ”

Ivy and Rutledge earned redemption against Jaimi Gregory (Westminster, Calif.) and Brittany Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.) in their first country quota match. Last week in Sanya, China, Gregory and Hochevar won the country quota meeting. This week, Ivy and Rutledge won 21-12, 28-26. In the other preliminary match, Hanson and Fendrick defeated Tealle Hunkus (Girard, Ohio) and Heather Lowe (Cypress, Calif.)  for the second straight week, 17-21, 21-10, 15-12.

Last week in Sanya, China, Fendrick and Hanson emerged from the country quota tournament as well as the qualifier to place ninth. Their only two losses came against teams who won medals in Sanya.

Although this was just the second meeting between the two teams, the players are all very familiar with each other. Hanson and Rutledge teamed together for all of 2009 and the first half of this year, while Fendrick and Ivy began as partners in late 2008. In the country quota in The Hague in August, Ivy and Rutledge defeated Fendrick and Hanson 21-18, 21-19.

Ivy has had her two best SWATCH FIVB World Tour finishes in Phuket, both coming while playing alongside Fendrick. In 2008, their only two losses came at the hands of a pair of semifinal teams as the duo placed fifth, which at the time was a career best for both. Last year the duo lost in the first round in Phuket, but then won six straight elimination matches to reach the semifinals, eventually placing fourth.

Last season’s event in Phuket saw three qualification teams earn top-10 finishes in the main draw. This year’s single elimination qualification tournament features teams from 22 different countries.

The 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar concludes this week in Thailand as the 17-site, 14-country international beach volleyball circuit with $6.83-million in prize money returns to Phuket for the fifth-straight season for a women’s-only event on Karon Beach.

After a pair of Chinese teams competed in the finals of the inaugural Phuket Thailand Open in 2006 with Xue and Zhang topping the podium with a win over compatriots Jia Tian and Jie Wang, American pairs have placed 1-2 in the next three Karon Beach finales led by Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), the reigning FIVB world champions.

Kessy and Ross are the two-time defending champions in Phuket while Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.) took silver there in 2009. Turner took silver in Phuket in 2008 while playing with Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.).

In 2007, Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.) won in Phuket with Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) while Branagh took second with Elaine Youngs (Orange, Calif.).

Rain is expected for much of this year’s tournament as Phuket has had one of the worst monsoon seasons in memory.

For the FIVB’s tournament page for Phuket, click here.

Tags: Angie Akers, Ashley Ivy, Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB World Tour, Kerri Walsh, Lauren Fendrick, Nicole Branagh, Tyra Turner