Dalhausser, Rogers Return to Podium in Gstaad

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 10, 2011) – The U.S. men’s beach volleyball team of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers took silver on Sunday at the $600,000 1 to 1 Energy Grand Slam in Gstaad, Switzerland, part of the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour.

The fourth-seeded Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) fell to Brazil’s top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti, 22-20, 21-19 in 42 minutes in the gold medal match. It was the first FIVB medal for the U.S. team since it took silver on May 22 in Prague, Czech Repbulic.Emanuel and Alison also won the gold in Prague.

Dalhausser and Rogers, who won the gold medal in Gstaad in 2010, now have a 6-3 career record against Alison and Emanuel. The teams have met in three gold medal finals this season, with Dalhausser and Rogers winning in Brazil and Alison and Emanuel taking gold in Prague and Gstaad.

“It’s disappointing, especially because we were the defending champions in Gstaad," Rogers told the FIVB. "We had several opportunities but a silver medal on the World Tour is still significant. Phil and I both would do some things differently, but when a match is as close as this one was, little things can change the outcome and it did today. We’ll keep moving on and hope to learn more from our mistakes.”

To reach the final, Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Germany’s second-ranked Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann in Sunday’s semifinals, 18-21, 21-13, 15-13 in 54 minutes.

Dalhausser and Rogers improved their career record to 8-4 against Brink and Reckermann, although the  German  duo has won the last three times they have faced each other, the first by forfeit and the last two in three sets in the this year’s FIVB Swatch World Championships and last week in Norway at the Stavanger Grand Slam.

In the men’s bronze medal match, Brink and Reckermann defeated Poland’s fifth-ranked Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel, 22-20, 21-17 in 44 minutes.

The 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour moves on with the Moscow Grand Slam next week. The women’s country quota match will be Monday with the U.S. beach volleyball team of Brittany Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.) and Lisa Rutledge (Vista, Calif.) scheduled to square off against compatriots Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) for a chance to play in Tuesday’s qualifying round.

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 scheduled to begin main draw play on Wednesday.

The U.S. men are not scheduled for a country quota match. Brad Keenan (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Casey Patterson (Van Nuys, Calif.) will begin the qualifying round on Wednesday. The U.S. teams of Dalhausser and Rogers, Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) along with Matthew Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.) will begin main draw play on Thursday.

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

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brad Keenan, Brittany Hochevar, 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, Todd Rogers