Beach Teams Almost Perfect on Day 2

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 14, 2011) – The U.S. men’s beach volleyball teams posted a 4-0 record while the women’s teams tallied a 6-1 record in Tuesday’s pool play at the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Championships in Rome.

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Kevin Wong (Honolulu, Hawaii), seeded 24th, defeated 25th-seeds Andy Ces and Kevin Ces of France, 19-21, 21-9, 15-10 in 48 minutes in Pool A. Top seeds Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.), also in Pool A, defeated Angola’s 48th-seeded team of Mario Silva and Abreu Morais, 21-13, 21-13 in 35 minutes.

Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.), seeded seventh and competing in Pool G, defeated Australia’s 42nd-seeded team of Sam Boehm and Isaac Kapa, 21-16, 21-19 in 39 minutes. Fuerbringer and Lucena will take on Georgia’s 31st-seeded team of Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro in the final match of pool play on Wednesday.

Pool K, hosting the U.S. team of Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) will continue on Wednesday. The Americans will face Russia’s 39th-seeded team of Serguei Prokopiev and Yury Bogatov before competing against Latvia’s 15th-seeded team of Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins on Thursday.

On the women’s side, defending FIVB World Champions, Jennifer Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) outplayed the Czech Republic’s 22nd-seeded team of Hana Klapalova and Lenka Hajeckova, 22-24, 21-7, 15-12 in 48 minutes. The duo then defeated Austria’s 27th-seeded team of Barbara Hansel and Sara Montagnolli, 21-16, 21-11 in 32 minutes.

Kessy and Ross will face Switzerland’s 46th-seeded team of Muriel Grassli and Tanja Goricanec, Wednesday, in the final match of Pool C.

Two-time Olympic gold-medal pair, Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.) continued their eight-set win streak by defeating 20th-seeds Kristyna Kolocova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic, 21-12, 21-19 in 34 minutes and Italy’s 29th-seeded team of Giombini and Rosso, 21-16, 21-11 in 32 minutes.

May-Treanor and Walsh face the Czech Republic’s 44th-seeded team of Sona Novakova Dosoudilova and Tereza Tobiasov on Wednesday in their final round-robin match.

Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.), seeded 12th, opened Pool M by defeating Great Britain’s 36th-ranked team of Denise Johns and Lucy Boulton, 21-16, 21-12 in 29 minutes. The Americans then fell to the 13th -seeds, Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti of Italy, 21-17, 21-17 in 36 minutes.

Competition will continue Wednesday when Fendrick and Hanson will look to conclude pool play with a win over 37th-seeds Roos Van der Hoeven and Janitine Van der Vlist of the Netherlands.

Already having a win under its belt, the U.S. team of Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), seeded 11th, tallied another victory in its second day of pool play. Akers and Branagh defeated Latvia’s 35th-seeded team of Inguna Minusa and Inese Jursone, 21-16, 21-16 in 36 minutes. In their final round-robin match, the duo will face Belgium’s 38th-seeded team of Katrien Gielen and Liesbeth Mouha on Wednesday.

For the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Championships full-color media guide, click here.

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

Tags: 2011 FIVB World Tour, 2011 SWATCH World Tour, Angie Akers, April Ross, Brooke Hanson, Casey Jennings, FIVB beach, Jennifer Kessy, Kerri Walsh, Kevin Wong, Lilla Frederick, Matt Fuerbringer, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Philip Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers