Walsh, May-Treanor Victorious at FIVB Worlds

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 17, 2011) – U.S. beach players Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor were victorious at the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Championships on Friday in Rome to advance to the semifinals, while it was a tough day for their compatriots.

May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Walsh (San Jose, Calif.) began the day defeating seventh-seeds Sara Goller and Laura Ludwin of Germany 21-19, 18-21, 15-11 in 51 minutes. The fifth-seeded Americans were then forced to battle third-seeds and compatriots, Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) for a spot in the semifinals. May-Treanor and Walsh defeated Kessy and Ross 21-16, 18-21, 15-10 in a tight 46 minutes, eliminating the defending world champions from the tournament.

“Kerri and I have worked hard since we’ve got back together in March and in each tournament we keep getting better and better,” May-Treanor said in an FIVB release. “That’s what we want. We want to be world champions and each time we step on the court everyone has got it in for us because we’re the veterans on tour.”

The two-time Olympic gold medalists of Walsh and May-Treanor, undefeated in the tournament, stand as the only U.S. team remaining in either the men's and women’s event. They look to take down China’s eighth-seeded team of Chen Xue and Xi Zhang on Saturday to advance into the gold-medal match.

Walsh and May-Treanor are two wins away from their fourth FIVB World Championship title as they won the event in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

The women’s semifinals will take place Saturday with both the bronze and gold-medal matches slated for Sunday.

The U.S. women’s team of Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) defeated Spain’s 23rd-seeded team of Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo Macmillan 21-19, 21-13 in 35 minutes in the round of 16. The duo then gave the top-seeds, Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Da Silva of Brazil a run for their money, but eventually falling to them 21-13, 21-17, 15-12 in a tight 48-minute race.

Photo: Courtesy of FIVB Jake Gibb attacks against compatriot Todd Rogers in Friday's FIVB World Championship match.  On the men’s side, Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.), top-seeds in the men’s tournament, out-played compatriots Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 21-14, 21-18 in 42 minutes in the round of 32. Rogers and Dalhausser, the defending Olympic Games gold medalists, faced defending FIVB World Champions and fourth-seeds, Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany. In the second-longest match of the tournament, the Americans were defeated 17-21, 21-19, 18-16 in 61 minutes.

Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.) out-played Austria’s 33rd-seeded team of Daniel Mullner and Alexander Horst 21-18, 17-21, 15-8 in 51 minutes to earn a spot in the round of 16. The seventh-seeded Americans fought for three sets, but came up short, losing to Brazil’s 12th-seeded team of Rhooney de Oliveira Ferramenta and Pedro Solberg Salgado  21-19, 15-21, 15-13 in 51 minutes.

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Kevin Wong (Honolulu, Hawaii) were defeated by Austria’s 44th-seeded team of Clemens Doppler and Matthias Mellitzer 17-21, 21-16, 18-16 in 55 minutes.

The men’s quarterfinals and semifinals are slated for Saturday with both the bronze and gold-medal match following on Sunday.

For videos and interviews at the FIVB Swatch World Championships, click here.

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, FIVB, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Kerri Walsh, Matt Fuerbringer, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Philip Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers