B.J. Hoeptner Evans
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 26, 2011) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh have advanced to the fourth round of the  FIVB Swatch World Tour HP Beach Open in The Hague, Netherlands.

The U.S. women’s team of Jennifer Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), seeded eighth, and the men’s team of Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), ranked 10th, remain alive in consolation.

May-Treanor and Walsh advanced to the fourth round be defeating Brazil’s 11th-seeded Taiana Lima and Vivian Cunha, 22-20, 11-21, 15-7 in 42 minutes on Friday.  In Saturday’s fourth round, May-Treanor and Walsh will play China’s second-seeded Chen Xue and Xi Zhang, who defeated the U.S. team in the finals of last week’s FIVB Swatch World Tour event in Finland.  Kessy and Ross lost their third-round match to Brazil’s top-seeded Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca, 23-21, 21-15) in 34 minutes. The U.S. team came back in consolation to defeat Australia’s 19th-seeded Natalie Cook and Tamsin Hinchley, 21-16, 21-16 in 38 minutes.  On Saturday they will face Czech Republic’s 16th-ranked Hana Klapalova and Lenka Hajeckova in consolation.

The U.S. women’s team of Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Brittany Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.), ranked 14th finished the tournament tied for ninth. The U.S. pair won their first consolation match on Friday, defeating compatriots Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.), 22-24, 21-19, 15-13 in 53 minutes. Fendrick and Hanson finished tied for 17th.  In their next consolation match, Branagh and Hochevar defeated Mexico’s 27th-seeded Candelas Bibiana and Mayra Garcia, 21-19, 21-12 in 32 minutes. But the U.S. team fell in its third consolation match to Spain’s seventh-ranked Liliana Fernández Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo Macmillan, 21-15, 21-16 in 33 minutes.

In the men’s bracket, Gibb and Rosenthal remain alive in consolation after losing their third-round match to Brazil’s second-ranked Pedro Cunha and Ricardo Santos, 21-16, 21-18 in 40 minutes. The U.S. team came back to defeat compatriots Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), seeded fourth, 21-12, 21-16 in 34 minutes.  Gibb and Rosenthal are scheduled to play Netherlands’ 26th-seeded Emiel Boersma and Daan Spijkers on Saturday. Fuerbringer and Lucena, who won two consolation matches on Friday, finish tied for seventh.

The U.S. men’s team of Casey Patterson (Van Nuys, Calif.) and Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.), ranked 20th, finished the tournament tied for 17th after losing to Brazil’s third-ranked Marcio Henrique Barroso Araujo and Benjamin Insfran in consolation on Friday, 21-14, 21-15 in 37 minutes.

For more information about the tournament, click here.

COBRA SPORTS