B.J. Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 30, 2008) - In a match that one U.S. beach volleyball team had to win, second-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers defeated compatriots and 18th-ranked Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal (21-18, 14-21, 15-11) in 50 minutes to finish third on Sunday at the Adelaide Australia Open on Glenelg Beach, the first event on the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

In the women's tournament, the U.S. team of fourth-seeded Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Elaine Youngs (El Toro, Calif.) fell to 11th-seeded Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly (19-21, 13-21) of Brazil in 39 minutes in the third-place match on Sunday.

All three U.S. teams earned points toward Olympic qualifying. Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) currently lead the U.S. men's teams in qualifying while Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) are second. Branagh and Youngs are in second among the U.S. women behind Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (Santa Clara, Calif.), who did not play in Adelaide. The United States will send two men's teams and two women's teams to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Dalhausser and Rogers' victory on Sunday gave them a little revenge for a 20-24, 18-21 loss Gibb and Rosenthal in the second round on Thursday. Dalhausser and Rogers split the $14,000 third-place prize while Gibb and Rosenthal shared $10,500 for their fourth-place finish. In the men's final, fourth-ranked Brazilians Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado defeated seventh-seeded Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu of China (23-21, 21-12). In the women's final, top-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca beat compatriots Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro (21-13, 18-21, 15-12), giving the Brazilian women a sweep of the podium.

More information is available on the FIVB beach web site at www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/index.asp'sm=12.