The U.S. men’s beach volleyball team of Phil Dalhausser (UCF ’02) and Todd Rogers celebrated Independence Day by winning its sixth medal in seven 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour events at the ConocoPhillips Grand Slam in Stavanger, Norway.
Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.), the tournament’s top seeds, defeated third-ranked Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera of Spain in the bronze medal match, 21-17, 21-16 win in 40 minutes.
Dalhausser and Rogers ended up in the bronze medal match after falling to Germany’s 11th-seeded David Klemperer and Eric Koreng in the semifinals, 21-16, 13-21, 15-13 in 59 minutes. Klemperer and Koreng went on to win the gold medal, defeating ninth-ranked Tarjei Skarlund and Martin Spinnangr of Norway in the final, 21-16, 21-14 win in 41 minutes.
In defeating Gavira and Herrera for the sixth-time in eight SWATCH meetings, Dalhausser and Rogers shared $23,000 while the Spaniards split $18,400 for their fourth-place finish.
The top-ranked team on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour, Dalhausser and Rogers have captured four gold medals this season in Brazil, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic with a silver medal finish in Moscow and a fourth-place in Shanghai.
With a Stavanger third for the second-straight year after winning the Vaagen Harbour gold medal in 2008, Dalhausser and Rogers increased their tour leadership over the Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil and the Spaniards. The Americans have 4,380 points for seven events this season with Alison and Emanuel 880 points behind at 3,500 points followed by Gavira and Herrera with 3,120 points.
Source: TeamUSA.org,Dalhausser, Rogers Celebrate 4th with 6th Medal, by B.J. Hoeptner Evans, Manager, Media Relations and Publications. Phone: (719) 228-6800, E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org