Three U.S. Beach Teams to Play for Medals

"Three U.S. beach teams will be playing for medals on Sunday at SWATCH FIVB World Tour events in Korea and Poland.

The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Myers Beach, Fla.) will play for gold while U.S. teammates Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), will play for bronze at the US$190,000 Crown Seoul Open, which is being held at the Han River Jamsil Citizen Park courts.

Fourth-seeded Akers and Turner will face Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca, the tournament’s top-seeded team, in the gold medal match.

Second-ranked Kessy and Ross will play Brazil’s third-seeded Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes for the bronze medal. It is only the seventh time in FIVB women’s play since 2001 that all four top-seeded teams will be playing in the medal matches.

At the US$190,000 Myslowice Open, a men’s event, Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) will face Spain’s Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera for the second time this week, but this time in the gold medal match.

After Gavira and Herrera defeated them in the fourth round, Dalhausser and Rogers had to win a consolation match Saturday to advance to the semifinals where they rallied from a 15-21 first-set decision to defeat Germany’s second-seeded Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann, 21-11, 15-9 in the final two sets of a 53-minute match.

“It was all about passing the ball better in the last two sets against the Germans,” Rogers said.

n the other semifinal, fourth-seeded Gavira and Herrera outlasted Brazil’s fifth-seeded Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego, 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 15-10) in 53 minutes

Dalhausser and Rogers, who have competed in each SWATCH FIVB World Tour “final four” this season with Alison and Emanuel, reached the semifinals by eliminating ninth-seeded Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel of Poland 23-21, 21-19 in 57 minutes.

In the first semifinal matchup Seoul on Saturday, Juliana and Larissa advanced to the gold medal match with a three-set victory over Kessy and Ross, 2-1 (17-21, 21-14, 15-13) in 49 minutes.

In the final semifinal match, held under the lights in Seoul, Akers and Turner upset Brazil’s third-seeded Antonelli and Talita, the defending Crown Seoul Open champions, 21-17, 23-21 in 49 minutes. With the win, Akers and Turner, who will be in the second gold medal match in their 15-event FIVB career, also recorded their first FIVB career win over Antonelli and Talita.

To reach the semifinals, Kessy and Ross had to win a consolation quarterfinal match by defeating Germany’s sixth-seeded Laura Ludwig and Sara Goller, 21-19, 21-19 in 45 minutes Saturday afternoon.

In their consolation quarterfinal match to advance to their semifinal, Akers and Turner came from behind to defeat 12th-seeded Austrian sisters Stefanie and Doris Schwaiger, 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 15-13) in 52 minutes." ~ Source: USAVolleyBlog.org

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Ball State setter takes home national player of the week honors

"Senior setter Ethan Pheister has placed No. 13 Ball State University in the national spotlight.

Phiester was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Men’s Division I-II National Player of the Week on Monday for his performance Saturday against IPFW.

“Ethan is definitely playing well and I think our guys are definitely playing well around him,” coach Joel Walton said. “It was Ethan’s entire effort and all-around body of work that he put in the IPFW match that earned him the accolade.”

Pheister led a balanced offensive attack against the Mastadons as four Cardinals reached double digit kills. The Cardinals won the match in a 3-0 sweep (30-28,30-23,30-22). Ball State is 5-0 during Pheister’s career when four Cardinals score 10 or more kills in a match. Pheister was productive on the defensive side of the net too, earning nine digs and four block assists.

Libero Billy Ebel was not to be outdone by his teammate, as the senior won the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Defensive Player of the Week award for the fourth straight week. Ebel has won the award seven times this season.

Pheister was named MIVA Offensive Player of the Week to go along with his national award. It is the first time this season that a Cardinal won the MIVA Offensive Player of the week award.

Walton does not want Pheister, Ebel and the rest of the Cardinals to stop winning awards as the All-MIVA Tournament and All-American teams are still to come.

“The more important honors are still out there,” Walton said. “If they make one of those teams it’s really high praise.”

Ball State will play No. 10 Ohio State University on Wednesday night in Columbus. The Buckeyes are two-time defending MIVA champions." ~ BallStateDailyNews.com

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Women's Team Advances

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 24, 2010) – The U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team (5-0) has advanced to the final of the WOVD (World Organization for Volleyball Disabled) World Cup in Port Said, Egypt, after sweeping Russia in the semifinal on Wednesday.

The U.S. Women’s Sitting Team will face Netherlands in the final on Thursday at 10 a.m. CT after defeating Russia, 25-14, 25-18, 25-8 on Wednesday.

Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash.) led the U.S. Women’s Sitting Team with 18 points. Heather Erickson (Fayetteville, N.C.) added 17.

“It was good to see the whole team execute at a high level, gain a convincing win over Russia and progress to the championship match tomorrow,” said U.S. Women’s Team Captain Brenda Maymon" ~ Source: USAvolleyball.org

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AVP volleyball signs broadcast deal with ESPN, ABC

"CHICAGO, Feb 24 - The major U.S. beach volleyball tour, AVP, has signed a two-year broadcast deal with ESPN and ABC, the companies said on Wednesday.

The agreement with Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N) ESPN and ABC networks includes 13 AVP events in 2010 -- four on ABC and nine on ESPN2 -- beginning with the tour's season opening event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 18 and including the championship in Chicago. The terms were not disclosed.

"This new agreement gives us a consistent national reach that will be essential to our growth as a sport," AVP Chief Executive Jason Hodell said in a statement. "The 2010 season will showcase the veterans and new stars of the AVP to a very large audience."

The sport is trying to build on momentum from last year's Beijing Summer Olympics, when the U.S. men's and women's teams, including fan favorites Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, won gold medals.

The weak U.S. economy has hurt all sports over the past year as fans cut back on games or spending at events, while corporate backers reduced what they spent on sponsorships and pricey tickets. Sponsorship revenue at AVP, which is owned by private equity firm RJSM Partners, was down double digits percentage wise last year." ~ Reuters.com

USA Men's Volleyball Update

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 27, 2010) – Players from the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team will represent both sides in the finals of Puerto Rico’s professional league.

The Guaynabo Mets, featuring Eric Vance (Camarillo, Calif.) and Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) will square off against Plataneros de Corozal, which includes Casey Patterson (Newbury Park, Calif.), Nils Nielsen (Fallbrook, Calif.) and Matt McKinney (Santa Ynez, Calif.) in the final series.

Guaynabo defeated Leones de Ponce in the semifinal round, 4-1, which eliminated U.S. players Ty Loomis (Warner Robins, Ga.), Tony Ching (Hawaii) and Delano Thomas (Sacramento, Calif.).

Corozal defeated Nuevos Gigantes de Carolina, 4-1.

Patterson led all scorers in the semifinals with 93 points in 18 sets, including 83 kills, eight blocks and two aces. He also led all hitters with 83 kills on 110 attempts (75 percent). His hitting percentage was 51 percent.

Thomas was second among all scorers with 86 points on 75 kills, seven blocks and four aces in 19 sets. He was second in attacks with 75 kills in 117 attempts (64 percent).

Ching was named the Most Valuable Player for the regular season, just beating Vance in a close vote." ~ Source: USAVolleyball.org

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FIVB Announces 2010 Beach Volleyball Tour Schedule

The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) has announced its beach volleyball calendar for 2010 including the SWATCH FIVB World Tour, which will feature six Grand Slam events for the second time in its history.

With total prize money of $7.02 million, the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour will include 16 women’s events and 14 men’s tournaments including Grand Slams offering $600,000 prize money and bonus pool in Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Poland and a new Grand Slam in Rome, Italy – the venue for the 2011 SWATCH FIVB World Championships. The only other time there were six Grand Slams in one season was 2008. The events in Italy and Poland have been upgraded from opens to Grand Slams.

The 2010 season will open with a double gender open on April 19-25 in Brazilia, Brazil. The first Grand Slam takes place on May 17-23 in Rome, Italy.

“The FIVB has developed the latest calendar in order to ensure the best symmetry with continental and national tours throughout the world,” President of the Beach Volleyball Commission Dr. Ary Graça said. “In fact, apart for the month of August, all remaining months in the calendar will have at least one free week to accommodate the continental and national activities. We hope that now, FIVB confederations and federations will seize this great opportunity, exploiting the potential that beach volleyball can offer to all of them, by involving more teams and the best partners which will help increase the overall beach volleyball audience. This will also help to further boost the SWATCH FIVB World Tour as well.”

Grand Champions Cup

Nagoya, Japan - Beijing Olympic silver medallists Brazil became the first team to defence the World Grand Champions Cup men's volleyball when they outgunned Japan on Monday.

The Brazilian men, who won the tournament in 1997 and 2005, powered their way through to a 25-12, 26-24, 25-22 victory for their third title in the six-team round robin competition.

"In the tournament as a whole, Brazil had our ups and downs but when we needed to be stable in the big matches we played better. That is the most important thing," said Brazilian coach Bernardo Rezende.

"Right now we are going to have a party tonight but from tomorrow I must start thinking how to build a stronger team for next year's World League and the World Championship," he added.

Captain Gilberto Godoy Filho said: "Brazil played one of the best matches today, because it was like a final and I know what happens in the Brazilian players' mind. We have a little bit more experience in taking the moments in the set to win the game." ~ Source: India Times

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