Beach Volleyball Notes: Holiday Exhibitions

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 13, 2010) – U.S. beach volleyball players Phil Dalhauser, Todd Rogers, Kerri Walsh and Brooke Hanson rang in the new year playing exhibition matches in Brazil.

The Brazilians, who have been competing on their domestic tour all winter, came out on top in both the men’s and women’s matches.

According to Rogers’ blog site, Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who won the 2010 SWATCH FIVB Tour title, fell to Ricardo Santos and Marcio Araujo, 21-15, 21-19.

Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) were topped by Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Silva, 21-16, 21-14.

The teams were supposed to play a 4 on 4 match, but were thwarted by rain.

CHINA EXHIBITION

Two U.S. women’s beach teams participated in an FIVB beach volleyball exhibition on Nov. 26-28 in Xiaolan,China.

The team of Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Erin Gray (Orland Park, Ill.) finished third and won $4,000. The team of Heather Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif.) and Alicia Zamparelli (Glendale, Calif.) won $1,000 for finishing tied for ninth.

Fendrick and Gray won three matches to advance to the semifinals, where they fell to Huang Ying and Yue Yuan, 2-1 (17-21, 21-19, 15-11) in 48 minutes. The U.S. team came back to win the bronze medal match against Russia’s Evgenia Ukolova and Alexandra Shiryaeva, 21-19, 21-19 in 38 minutes.

You can read more and see photos on Lauren Fendrick's blog site.

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, Kerri Walsh, Lauren Fendrick, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers