Dalhausser, Rogers Top Gibb, Rosenthal for Gold

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 7, 2011) – The beach volleyball team of top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers defeated 11th-seeded Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal on Saturday in the all-U.S. men’s gold medal match at the China Shanghai Jinshan Open on the 2011 SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Sunday will bring another all-U.S. match on the women’s side as 16th-seeded Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) will play sixth-seeded Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) in the semifinals.

In the men’s gold medal match, Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) defeated Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 21-18, 24-22 victory in 44 minutes.

Dalhausser and Rogers, who won nine gold medals on last year's FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour as well as the 2011 season-opening Brasilia Open two weeks ago, split the top prize of US$30,000. Gibb and Rosenthal took their first podium finish since a bronze at the Myslowice Open in May 2009. They split $21,000 for winning the silver medal.

“We did not expect to win back-to-back and it’s only the start of the season, so it’s a pretty good feeling,” Rogers told the FIVB after winning the Shanghai tournament with a 6-0 record and improving to 12-0 for the 2011 season. “It was a pretty good match and we were playing our compatriots. We have played each other a lot of times and we know each other very well. I hope the crowd enjoyed it.”

Trailing 16-11 in the second set, Dalhausser and Rogers ran off four points in a row to make it 16-15 before saving two set points to take the lead at 21-20. Gibb and Rosenthal managed to withstand two match points, but Dalhausser converted on the third with a solid block against Gibb.

“(With the score 16-11) we weren’t playing very well and I think they were playing quite well. Then we switched to short serves and they made an error and Phil had a block too and I got a dig and all of a sudden it’s a one-point game and it is anyone’s match. Fortunately we won it at the end,” Rogers added.

 “We’ve still got a long way to go. It’s a good start and we can’t get any better. We’ll see what happens,” Dalhausser said.

Dalhausser and Rogers also improved their head-to-head lead against Gibb and Rosenthal on the FIVB World Tour to 43-12.

Gibb and Rosenthal advanced to the gold medal match by upsetting Germany’s third-ranked Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann, whom they had already beaten in the third round, 21-17, 21-11 in 36 minutes in the semifinals. Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Spain’s seventh-seeded Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira Collado in the semifinals, 21-16, 20-22, 15-11 in 53 minutes.

The women’s semifinals will feature two U.S. women’s teams that have had to battle to get there.

Fendrick and Hanson had to win two qualifying matches and then upset top-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca in the second round on Thursday.

On Saturday, Fendrick and Hanson defeated fifth-ranked Austrian sisters Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger, 21-17, 21-19 in 35 minutes to reach the semifinals.

"It’s nice to stay in the winners’ bracket. We felt a little bit of pressure and we had to play a tough game, so we are lucky to be here,” Hanson told the FIVB after securing her second semifinal slot with Fendrick during the 2011 FIVB World Tour. “We just try to stay focused at the moment, not thinking about anything else.”

“We hope we can get some more (wins) in this tournament and we hope to get our first medal as a team,” Fendrick added. “As long as we play our best beach volleyball, we will be happy with whatever we finish; but yes, we’d love to get a medal.”

Kessy and Ross have had to work their way through the consolation bracket after losing in the second round of the tourney.

On Saturday, they defeated Italy’s 18th-ranked Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti, 21-15, 21-18 in 35 minutes. Then the U.S. pair had to get past Brazil’s third-seeded Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes, 21-18, 18-21, 15-10 in 53 minutes.

Sunday’s other semifinal match will see fifth-ranked Austrian sisters Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger take on seventh-seeded Marleen Van Iersel and Sanne Keizer from Netherlands.

The semifinal winners will play for the gold medal on Sunday while the other teams will play for the bronze.

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

Tags: April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brooke Hanson, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jennifer Kessy, Lauren Fendrick, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers