Report From USA Volleyball & B.J. Hoeptner Evans
The U.S. beach volleyball teams of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh and Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers will play for the women’s and men’s gold medals respectively on Sunday at the AVP Crocs Tour World Challenge – USA vs. Brazil presented by Sanderson Ford in Glendale, Ariz.
In the team competition, the United States leads Brazil, 18-14 after four sessions of round-robin pool play.
May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) went 4-0 in pool play and will play Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca (3-1) in Sunday’s gold medal match. May-Treanor and Walsh defeated Juliana and Larissa in their final match on Saturday, 21-14, 21-18 in 40 minutes.
The women’s bronze medal match will see the United States’ Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) play Brazil’s Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes. Kessy and Ross, who finished pool play 3-1, beat Maria and Talita, 21-16, 27-25 in 52 minutes on Saturday.
Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) went 3- 1 in pool play and will face Brazil’s Alison Cerruti and Harley Marques (3-1) in Sunday’s final. Dalhausser and Rogers beat Alison and Harley, 23-21, 21-14 in 46 minutes in pool play on Friday.
The United States’ Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), who finished pool play 2-2, will play in the bronze medal match against Brazil’s Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos (3-1). Emanuel and Ricardo defeated Keenan and Lucena on Saturday, 21-13, 21-16 in 39 minutes.
May-Treanor and Walsh opened Saturday’s play with a 16-21, 21-18, 15-12 win over Maria and Talita, and then snapped Juliana and Larissa’s undefeated streak. Kessy and Ross started Friday with a 21-17, 21-17 loss to Juliana and Larissa, then solidified their spot in the medal round with the win over Maria and Talita.
Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Benjamin Insfran and Pedro Salgado, 21-19, 21-16 in the third round, then fell to Emanuel and Ricardo, 19-21, 21-23 in the fourth round of pool play. Keenan and Lucena lost to Alison and Harley in the third round, 21-16, 21-14, then defeated Benjamin and Pedro 21-18, 21-18 in the fourth round to advance to the bronze medal match.
The United States needs seven points to clinch the World Challenge. Bronze medal matches are worth three points each, while gold medal matches are worth five apiece. In the event of a 24-24 tie, the men’s gold medal match will serve as a tiebreaker. For complete results from Glendale, click here.
The World Challenge continues Sunday at 9:15 a.m. MST with the women’s bronze medal match from Stadium Court, followed by the men’s bronze medal match at 9:45 a.m. on Feature Court 1. The women’s gold medal match will take place at 11 a.m., while the men’s gold medal match will follow at 12:30 p.m., both on Stadium Court. Gold medal matches will be televised nationally on Versus Sunday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 5 at 5 p.m. EDT.
avpTV will stream more than 10 hours live from the World Challenge. To give Americans and Brazilians alike the chance to watch live coverage, English and Portuguese feeds will be available on AVP.com. Tune in Saturday for round-robin matches from approximately 7:45 p.m.-1:30 a.m. and Sunday for medal matches from approximately 12:15-5 p.m. EDT. To start watching avpTV for free, click here.