Four Beach Teams Hungry for Hardware in Quebec

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 22, 2011) – The U.S. advanced two men’s teams into the semifinals of the 2011 $280,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Quebec Open on Friday in Canada

Meanwhile, the U.S. women’s top-seeded team of Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) remained alive in consolation as did the fifth-seeded U.S. men’s team of Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.).

Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) along with Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.) remained undefeated in the men’s bracket, securing two of the four spots in Saturday’s semifinal round. 

Top-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Brazil’s eighth-seeded team of Thiago Santos Barbosa and Harley Marques Silva, 21-15, 19-21, 15-11 in 58 minutes in the third round. The defending Olympic gold medalists then downed compatriots Gibb and Rosenthal, 21-15, 15-21, 15-12 in 1 hour to reach the semifinals. 

Fuerbringer and Lucena, ranked seventh upset Germany’s second-ranked Jonathan Ermann and Kay Matysik 17-21, 21-17, 17-15 in 1 hour and 2 minutes in the fourth round. The Americans then chalked up a win against Latvia’s sixth-seeded team of Aleksandrs Samoilous and Ruslans Sorokins, 21-19, 21-15 in 37 minutes. 

Both Dalhausser/Rodgers and Fuerbringer/Lucena will receive their opponents after Saturday morning’s consolation rounds. 

Despite their loss to Dalhausser/Rodgers, Gibb and Rosenthal advanced in consolation by defeating 29th-seeded Moises Neilton Santos and Alvaro Morais Filho of Brazil, 22-20, 21-15 in 40 minutes. 

Gibb and Rosenthal will play the winner of Saturday’s consolation match between Georgia’s 14th-seeded Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro and Sweden’s 21st-ranked Stefan Gunnarsson and Hannes Brinkborg.  

Sean Scott (Kailua, Hawaii) and John Hyden (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) fell to New Zealand’s 15th-seeded team of Jason Lochhead and Kirk Pitman, 21-19, 18-21, 15-12 in 53 minutes in consolation on Friday. The loss ends the journey in Quebec for the Americans. 

Kessy and Ross are the only U.S. women’s team to advance to Saturday’s play as they went 3-0 on Friday. The pair defeated 15th-seeded Cristine Santanna and Andrezza Marins das Chagas of Georgia, 21-17, 21-19 in 40 minutes. The duo then beat Canada’s ninth-seeded team of Marie-Andree Lessard and Annie Martin, 21-12, 21-15 in 34 minutes. In their final match of the day, Kessy and Ross were victorious over compatriots Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), 21-18, 21-15 in 41 minutes. 

Akers and Branagh fell in their first match on Friday to the 14th-seeded Nat Cook and Tamish Hinchley of Australia, 16-21, 21-10, 15-13 in 58 minutes. The loss to the Australians and the loss to their compatriots ended their tournament run. 

Brittany Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.) and Lisa Rutledge (Vista, Calif.), seeded 17th, had a tough match against Brazil’s eighth-seeded Taiana Lima and Vivian Danielle da Conceicao Cunh in Friday’s third round, falling 21-12, 21-9 in 28 minutes. The pair was unable to fight through consolation and took their second loss to Brazil’s third-seeded team of Maria Clara Salgado Rufino and Carolina Solberg Sagado, 21-17, 21-19 in 36 minutes. The Americans leave the Quebec Open with a 2-2 record. 

Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) began Friday with a victory over France’s 19th-seeded team of Eva Hamzaoui and Laura Longuet, 21-11, 21-15 in 31 minutes. Their play through consolation was cut short with a surprise loss to Mexico’s 21st-seeded team of Candelas Bibiana and Mayra Garcia, 21-19, 21-15 in 34 minutes. With the loss to Mexico and Thursday’s loss to the Netherlands Fendrick and Hanson were unable to advance to Saturday’s play.  

Consolation matches and the semifinal round will continue Saturday followed by the bronze and gold-medal matches on Sunday.

For more information on the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour, please visit www.fivb.org or visit the event website at www.quebecopenjeep.com.

Tags: 2011 FIVB World Tour, 2011 SWATCH World Tour, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Kessy, Matt Fuerbringer, Nick Lucena, Philip Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers