B.J. Hoeptner Evans
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 25, 2011) – All seven U.S. beach teams entered are still playing in the FIVB Swatch World Tour HP Beach Open in The Hague, Netherlands.

On the women’s side, the teams of third-seeded Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.) and eighth-ranked Jennifer Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) have reached the third round undefeated.  In the men’s bracket, 10th-seeded U.S. team of Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) has reached the third round without a loss.

May-Treanor and Walsh opened the competition Thursday with a 21-13, 21-16 win in 36 minutes over China’s 30th-ranked Fan Wang and Yuanyuan Ma in the first round. In the second round, the U.S. duo beat Australia’s 19th-seeded Natalie Cook and Tamsin Hinchley, 21-18, 21-14 in 36 minutes.  In Friday’s third round, May-Treanor and Walsh will face Brazil’s 11th-seeded Taiana Lima and Vivian Cunha.  Kessy and Ross beat against Italy’s 25th-ranked Gioria Daniela and Giulia Momoli in the first round, 21-19, 21-16 in 37 minutes. In the second round, the U.S. team beat Netherlands’ ninth-seeded Rebekka Kadijk and Merel Mooren, 21-17, 21-16 in 37 minutes.  In Friday’s third round, Kessy and Ross will go up against Brazil’s top-ranked Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca.  Among the other U.S. women’s teams competing in The Hague, Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) won their first-round match over Netherlands’ 20th-seeded Roos van der Hoeven and Jantine van der Vlist, 21-17, 21-13 in 32 minutes. The U.S. team lost its second-round match to Brazil’s Talita Da Rocha Antunes and Maria Antonelli, 21-18, 21-18 in 33 minutes.  In Friday’s consolation bracket, Fendrick and Hanson will play their U.S. compatriots, Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Brittany Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.), ranked 14th.  Branagh and Hochevar lost their first-round match to Australia’s Cook and Hinchley, 21-15, 13-21, 15-7 in 43 minutes. The U.S. pair came back in consolation to defeat Wang and Ma of China, 21-16, 21-16 in 35 minutes.

On the men’s side, Gibb and Rosenthal won their first-round match over play Australia’s 23rd-ranked Sam Boehm and Isaac Kapa, 21-18, 21-15 in 36 minutes. In the second round, the U.S. duo defeated Italy’s seventh-seeded Nicolai Paolo and Daniele Lupo, 23-25, 21-16, 15-9 in 51 minutes.  In Friday’s third round, Gibb and Rosenthal will face Brazil’s second-ranked Pedro Cunha and Ricardo Santos.  The U.S. men’s team of fourth-ranked Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) won its first-round match over Austria’s 29th-seeded Clemens Doppler and Matthias Mellitzer, 21-16, 21-16 in 40 minutes. However, it lost in the second round to Brazil’s 13th-ranked Brazil’s 13th-seeded Pedro Salgado and Rhooney Ferramenta, 21-14, 23-21 in 41 minutes.  In Friday’s consolation round, the U.S. team will compete against Switzerland’s 14th-seeded Martin Laciga and Jonas Weingart.  The U.S. team of Casey Patterson (Van Nuys, Calif.) and Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.), ranked 20th, lost its first-round match to Brazil’s Rhooney and Ferramenta, 21-19, 21-13 in 35 minutes. The U.S. pair came back in consolation to defeat Austria’s Doppler and Mellitzer, 21-15, 19-21, 15-13 in 50 minutes.  On Friday, Patterson and Jennings will face Brazil’s third-ranked Marcio Henrique Barroso Araujo and Benjamin Insfran in consolation.

COBRA SPORTS