Two U.S. Beach Teams Still Playing in Moscow

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 15, 2011) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh has advanced to the semifinals of the Moscow (Russia) Grand Slam, part of the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour.

Meanwhile, the team of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) is the only U.S. men’s team to make it to the second round, as the other two U.S. men’s teams were eliminated by teams from Germany.

May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Walsh (San Jose, Calif.), seeded second, eliminated the only remaining Russian team in the tournament, 10th-ranked Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Khomyakova, 21-17, 21-7 in 29 minutes, in Friday’s second round.  

The Americans reached the semifinals with a 21-15 21-17 win in 31 minutes over 28th-ranked Katrien Gielen and Liesbeth Mouha of Belgium, a new team this season.

All four of the tournament’s top seeds have advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.

May-Treanor and Walsh will play third-seeded Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti. Top-seeded Juliana Felisberta Da Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil will play China’s fourth-ranked Chen Xue and Xi Zhang, the tournament’s defending champions, in the other semifinal. The winners will play for gold on Saturday.

Two other U.S. women’s teams were eliminated from the tournament in Friday’s second round.

Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.), seeded 14th, fell to Xue and Zhang, 21-14, 21-14 in 33 minutes. Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), ranked 17th, lost to Brazil’s fifth-ranked Maria Antonelli and Talita Da Rocha Antunes, 21-16, 19-21, 15-13 in 48 minutes.

In the men’s bracket, fourth-ranked Dalhausser and Rogers won their final pool play match on Friday, 21-19, 21-17 in 39 minutes over Latvia’s 13th-seeded Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins.

After going undefeated in pool play, the pair advanced straight to the second round, where they will face Germany’s 14th-ranked Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik on Saturday. The men’s third round will also be played Saturday; with the semifinals and finals on Sunday.

After going 0-2 on Thursday, Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), seeded 18th, won broke pool by winning their final match, 22-20, 21-15 in 42 minutes. However, the U.S. team lost in the first round to Germany’s sixth-ranked David "Hase" Klemperer and Eric Koreng, 21-17, 19-21, 16-14 in 56 minutes, the longest men’s match of the day.

Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.), seeded 24th, defeated 25th-ranked Bo Soderberg and Anders Lund Hoyer of Denmark in their final pool play match, 21-12, 21-17 in 34 minutes.

Fuerbringer and Lucena advanced to the first round, where they fell to Germany’s 17th-ranked Sebastian Dollinger and Stefan Windscheif, 21-17, 14-21, 15-12 in 48 minutes.

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

Tags: Angie Akers, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brooke Hanson, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Lauren Fendrick, Matt Fuerbringer, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers