Hochevar, Rutledge Advance at Stavanger Grand Slam

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 27, 2011) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Brittany Hochevar and Lisa Rutledge advanced from the country quota bracket on Monday at the ConocoPhillips Grand Slam Stavanger 2011, part of the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour in Stavanger, Norway.

Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.) and Rutledge (Vista, Calif.) defeated the U.S. team of Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), 21-19, 21-15 in 34 minutes in Monday’s country quota match.

Hochevar and Rutledge advanced to the qualifying round where they are ranked 21st and will face Great Britain’s 12th-ranked Denise Johns and Lucy Boulton on Tuesday.

The women’s main draw will begin on Wednesday. The U.S. teams of Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.); Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) along with Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) are all scheduled to compete in their first event since the World Championships.

The men’s country quota will be played on Tuesday with the new U.S. team of Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) playing Brad Keenan (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Casey Patterson (Van Nuys, Calif.). The winning team will advance to the men’s qualifier on Wednesday.

The men’s main draw will begin on Thursday with Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) scheduled to compete along with the U.S. team of Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) along with Matthew Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.).

In the most recent World Tour rankings, Kessy and Ross have moved into first place followed by Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca. The U.S. team of May-Treanor and Ross is tied for third with China’s Chen Xue and Xi Zhang. Fendrick and Hanson are ninth and Akers and Branagh are 15th. Keenan and Patterson are 23rd.

In the men’s World Tour rankings, Dalhausser and Rogers have fallen to second behind Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego. Gibb and Rosenthal are in eighth followed by Fuerbringer and Lucena in ninth.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brad Keenan, Brittany Hochevar, Brooke Hanson, Casey Jennings, Casey Patterson, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Kessy, Kerri Walsh, Lauren Fendrick, Matt Fuerbringer, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers