Patterson, Keenan Make it to Gstaad Main Draw

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 6, 2011) – The U.S. men’s beach volleyball team of Casey Patterson and Brad Keenan won two qualifying matches on Wednesday to advance to the main draw of the $600,000 1 to 1 Energy Grand Slam in Gstaad, Switzerland, part of the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour.

Three U.S. women’s beach teams also began main draw pool play on Wednesday.

Patterson (Van Nuys, Calif.) and Keenan (Santa Ana, Calif.), ranked 12th in qualifying, opened qualifying play with a 21-12, 19-21, 15-10 victory in 45 minutes over 21st-ranked Fabien Dugrip and Yannick Salvetti of France.

Patterson and Keenan defeated another French team in the second round, dispatching fifth-ranked brothers Andy and Kevin Ces, 16-21, 21-19, 15-9) in 46 minutes.

Patterson and Keenan are ranked 18th in the main draw and will play in Pool K, where they will have two tough pool play matches on Thursday. First they will play 15th-seeded Tarjei Skarlund and Martin Spinnangr of Norway. Then they will face Germany’s second-ranked Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann. On Friday, Patterson and Keenan will finish pool play against Canada’s 31st-seeded Christian Redmann and Ben Saxton.

In women’s pool play action on Wednesday, Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.), ranked third, were the only U.S. team to go undefeated. They opened by defeating China’s 30th-seeded Fan Wang and Yuanyuan Ma, 21-13, 21-17 in 31 minutes. May-Treanor and Walsh followed that by beating Australia’s 19th-ranked Louise Bawden and Becchara Palmer, 21-15, 21-10 in 29 minutes.

On Thursday, May-Treanor and Walsh will finish pool play against Czech Republic’s 14th-ranked Hana Klapalova and Lenka Hajeckova.

The top-ranked U.S. beach team of Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) went 1-1 on Wednesday. They opened by defeating Norway’s 32nd-ranked Kathrine Maaseide and Ingrid Torlen, 21-15, 21-17 in 34 minutes. However they fell to Czech Republic’s Kristyna Kolocova and Slukova Marketa seeded 17th, 21-16, 21-13 in 32 minutes.

On Thursday, they will finish pool play against Brazil’s 16th-seeded Taiana Lima and Vivian Cuhna.

Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.), seeded 11th, also went 1-1 on Wednesday.  The U.S. team opened by beating Germany’s 22nd-ranked Karla Borger and Britta Büthe, 21-16, 19-21, 15-13 in 51 minutes. However they fell to Russia’s 27th-seeded Anastasia Vasina and Anna Vozakova, 21-16, 21-14 in 31 minutes.

They will complete pool play on Thursday against Brazil’s sixth-ranked Talita Da Rocha Antunes and Maria Antonelli.

In the men’s bracket, three more U.S. teams will begin main draw pool play on Thursday.

The fourth-ranked U.S. team of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) will open Thursday in Pool M against Russia’s 29th-seeded Serguei Prokopiev and Yury Bogatov. Next they will play Brazil’s 20th-ranked Rhooney de Oliveira Ferramenta and Pedro Solberg Salgado.

On Thursday, they will face Latvia’s 13th-seeded Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins.

Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) will open play in Pool N on Thursday against Italy’s 21st-seeded Nicolai Paolo and Matteo Martino. They will then go up against Spain’s 28th-ranked Raul Mesa and Inocencio Lario Carrillo.

On Thursday, they will conclude pool play against Poland’s fifth-ranked Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel.

Matthew Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.), seeded 25^th, will play in Pool Q and will open against Brazil’s eighth-seeded Bruno Oscar Schmidt and Benjamin Insfran. Then they will go up against Switzerland’s ninth-seeded Patrick Heuscher and Jefferson Bellaguarda.

On Thursday, they will round up pool play against Netherlands’ 24^th-ranked Emiel Boersma and Daan Spijkers.

For more information on the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour, visit the FIVB web site.

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