COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 16, 2019) – In their first event of the 2019 FIVB World Tour, Olympians Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena began their road to Tokyo with a silver medal on Saturday at the four-star tournament in Doha, Qatar.
Dalhausser/Lucena fell to the Chilean team of Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt, 21-15, 21-15 in the final. The U.S. pair only lost one set until the final.
“Congrats to the Grimalts, they played great today,” Dalhausser said in an Instagram post. “We needed our A-game to beat them and we did not bring that.”
The silver is the first World Tour medal for Dalhausser/Lucena since the won the Fort Lauderdale Major five-star event in March 2018.
Dalhausser told the FIVB that he had considered retiring during the team’s long offseason.
“I did some soul searching this offseason and I was so close to retiring, so close,” Dalhausser said. “But something sparked into me and totally switched my mind-set and I feel like I have a new life in beach volleyball. The goal is gold in Tokyo (2020 Olympic Games), that’s the long-term goal, obviously the goal here is gold.”
RESULTS IN DOHA
1 Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt CHI
2 Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena USA
3 Pablo Herrera/Adrián Gavira ESP
17T Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb
DNQ Chase Budinger/Casey Patterson
DNQ Miles Evans/Bill Kolinske
Athlete Support
Coach Tyler Hildebrand
ATC Mike Martinez
NORCECA QUALIFIER
U.S. beach teams will compete to qualify for NORCECA Tour events at 9 a.m.-4 p.m. March 20 on the south side of the Manhattan Beach Pier.
The top-four seeded women’s teams competing will be Emily Day/Betsi Flint, Geena Urango/Caitlin Ledoux, Carly Wopat/Brittany Hochevar and Corinne Quiggle/Amanda Dowdy.
The top-four seeded men’s teams competing will be Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb, Billy Allen/Stafford Slick, Ryan Doherty/John Hyden and Chase Budinger/Casey Patterson.
Full Men’s Bracket
First Round (9 a.m. PT)
8 Ian Satterfield/Mark Burik v
9 Ben Vaugh/Spencer Sauter
5 Reid Priddy/Theo Brunner v
12 Logan Webber/Christian Honer
6 Bill Kolinske/Miles Evans v
11 Tim Brewster/Marshall Brock
7 Ty Loomis/Troy Field v
10 Travis Mewhirter/Eric Buranek
Second Round (11 a.m. PT)
1 Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb v 8/9 winner
4 Chase Budinger/Casey Patterson v 5/12 winner
3 Ryan Doherty/John Hyden v 6/11 winner
2 Billy Allen/Stafford Slick v 7/10 winner
Third Round (1 p.m.)
Final and third place (3 p.m.)
Full Women’s Bracket
First Round (10 a.m)
8 Kim DiCello/Katie Spieler v
9 Traci Weamer/Jace Pardon
5 Kim Smith/Allie Wheeler v
12 Bye
6 Cassie House/Lara Dykstra v
11 Audrey Nourse/Nicole Nourse
7 Falyn Fanoimoana/Nicolette Martin v
10 Devon Newberry/Delaynie Maple
Second Round (noon PT)
1 Emily Day/Betsi Flint v 8/9 winner
4 Corinne Quiggle/Amanda Dowdy v Smith/Wheeler
3 Carly Wopat/Brittany Hochevar v 6/11 winner
2 Geena Urango/Caitlin Ledoux v 7/10 winner
Third Round (2 p.m.)
Final and third place (4 p.m.)
SIEM REAP TWO-STAR
Adam Roberts and Ed Ratledge are scheduled to compete in the FIVB World Tour two-star event on March 21-24 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.