Fendrick, Hanson Upset Top Seeds in Shanghai

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 5, 2011) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Hanson upset top-seeded Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca on Thursday to remain undefeated at the China Shanghai Jinshan Open, a SWATCH FIVB World Tour event.

Meanwhile, three U.S. men’s beach volleyball teams – Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.), ranked No. 1, fourth-ranked Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and 11th-seeded Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) – are also undefeated and have advanced to the fourth round.

Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.), who had to win two qualifying matches on Wednesday to advance to the main draw where they are ranked 16th, defeated Juliana and Larissa, 21-14, 23-25, 20-18 in 56 minutes. Juliana and Larissa have won the first two 2011 FIVB World Tour events without losing a match.

“It’s our first victory against them; I liked it a lot,” Fendrick told the FIVB. “They are the best team in the world

“Brooke served the ball very well and we had a lot of opportunities to side out.”

Fendrick and Hansen opened main draw play on Thursday with a 23-21, 21-15 victory in 33 minutes over Mexico’s 17th-seeded Candelas Bibiana and Mayra Garcia. The U.S pair will face China’s ninth-ranked Ying Huang and Yuan Yue in Friday’s third round.

Three other U.S. women’s teams are still playing in the consolation bracket.

Sixth-seeded Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) defeated Germany’s 27th-ranked Jana Köhler and Julia Sude in the first round, 21-17, 21-19 in 37 minutes. However, Kessy and Ross lost their second-round match to Brazil’s 11th-seeded Maria Clara Salgado and Carolina Salgado, 21-18, 16-21, 15-13 in 55 minutes.

Kessy and Ross will play Netherlands’ 12th-seeded Rebekka Kadijk and Merel Mooren in the consolation bracket Friday.

Eighth-ranked Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) lost their first-round match to Italy’s 27th-seeded Gioria Daniela and Giulia Momoli, 21-12, 21-19 in 34 minutes. In their first consolation match, the U.S. team defeated Netherlands’ 24th-seeded Marloes Wesselink and Madelein Meppelink, 21-19, 21-17 in 34 minutes.

On Friday, Akers and Branagh will face Czech Republic’s 10th-seeded Kristyna Kolocova and Slukova Marketa.

The 32nd-seeded U.S. team of Jen Fopma (Bellflower, Calif.) and Brittany Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.) lost its first-round match to Juliana and Larissa, 21-16, 21-19 in 34 minutes. However it came back to win its first consolation match, 18-21, 21-15, 15-11 in 43 minutes over Mexico’s Bibiana and Garcia. Fopma and Hochevar will play Italy’s 18th-seeded Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti on Friday.

In the men’s tournament, Dalhausser and Rogers breezed through a third-round victory over Poland’s eighth-ranked Mariusz Prudel and Grzegorz Fijalek, 21-17, 21-14 in 38 minutes. The U.S. pair will play their compatriots, Fuerbringer and Lucena, in Friday’s fourth round.

Fuerbringer and Lucena advanced with a 14-21, 21-18, 15-9 win in 53 minutes in the third round over China’s fifth-ranked Wu Penggen and Xu Linyin.

“They are a very good team, one of the top teams, so we are proud of ourselves," Lucena told the FIVB. "The second set is very important. We had a good sideout when it was 14-13 and that shifted the momentum. Every team here is unbelievable. We will just take one game at a time.”

Gibb and Rosenthal made it to the fourth round with a Thursday upset of Germany’s third-ranked Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann, 21-17, 21-9 in 34 minutes. Gibb and Rosenthal will play Spain’s seventh-ranked Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira Collado on Friday.

The 21st-seeded Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Kevin Wong (Honolulu, Hawaii) were eliminated from the tournament on Thursday and will finish tied for 17th after losing to Sweden’s 27th-ranked Stefan Gunnarsson and Hannes Brinkborg, 21-19, 16-21, 15-8 in 50 minutes in consolation.

The main draw tournament of the US$380,000 Shanghai Open will continue on Friday with the men’s and women’s medal matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday respectively. The gold medal teams will split US$30,000, the silver US$21,000 and the bronze US$15,000.

Complete information about the FIVB World Tour is available on the FIVB web site.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brittany Hochevar, Brooke Hanson, Casey Jennings, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Fopma, Jennifer Kessy, Kevin Wong, Lauren Fendrick, Matt Fuerbringer, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers