If you follow women’s beach volleyball at all, you most likely pay attention during the summer Olympic Games. These past Olympic Games in Beijing did not disappoint, with Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh winning gold and capping off a record-shattering winning streak. These days Kerri Walsh is taking time off with a new baby and Misty May-Treanor is rehabbing an Achilles tendon injury she sustained while competing on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
So, with Misty and Kerri sitting it out, what is the state of US Women’s Beach Volleyball?
The answer is that they are still on top, although not quite as consistently as Misty and Kerri in their Olympic drive. Jen Kessy and April Ross won the Swatch FIVB World Championships on the very patriotic date of July 4, fighting off the Brazilian team of Larissa and Juliana 2-0 (30-28, 23-21), in Stavanger, Norway. Although they faltered a bit the subsequent two weeks in the FIVB World Tour Grand Slam tournaments in Switzerland and Russia, they again took top place in the tour’s stop in Marseille, France on July 26. They faced the Greek team of Vassiliki Arvaniti and Maria Tsiartsiani 2-0 (21-16, 21-17), ending the Cinderella run of the 20th seeded pair whose tournament progress featured one upset after another.
Not to be outdone, the U.S. Men’s Beach Volleyball team of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, who won gold in Beijing, also took the gold medal in the Marseille World Tour Grand Slam tournament, defeating Adrian Gavira Collado and Pablo Herrera of Spain.
Qualifying play has begun in Klagenfurt, Austria, the last of the FIVB World Tour Grand Slam stops, and main draw play begins on Wednesday, July 29. Ross and Kessy are among four teams representing the U.S. in the Women’s draw, and Rogers and Dalhausser are among three U.S. Men’s teams competing. Tune in for the volleyball, tune in to root for the USA, or tune in for the swimsuits. Whatever works.
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Can you do more stuff on volleyball? I got hooked during the Olympics watching Misty and Kerri and the guys!
I didn't think I would get sucked into it but I did and was cheering for them like it was the Packers going up against the Bears.
Posted by: Tripp | July 28, 2009 at 10:10 PM