Membership
B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Communications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 16, 2012) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Angie Akers and Brittany Hochevar lost Monday in the final round of qualifying for the Brasilia Open in Brazil, but will advance to the main draw thanks to a lucky loser drawing.
Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.) were seeded second in qualifying and opened Monday with a first-round bye. In the second round, the U.S. duo defeated Norway’s 31st-ranked Janne Pedersen and Cindy Treland, 21-13, 21-14 in 30 minutes.
In the third round, Akers and Hochevar fell to Great Britain’s 18th-ranked Lucy Boulton and Denise Johns, 13-21, 21-14, 15-11 in 43 minutes.
However a “lucky loser” drawing was held Monday evening after Austria’s Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger had to pull out of the main draw due to illness.
Akers and Hochevar won the drawing over Georgia's Cristine "Saka" Santanna and Andrezza "Rtvelo" Martins.
Women’s main draw action will begin Tuesday.
The U.S. team of Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.) is ranked first and will play 32nd-seeded Boulton and Johns in the first round.
Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) are seeded fifth and will face Brazil’s 28th-ranked Maria Clara Salgado and Raquel Pelluci.
Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) are ranked 13th and will go up against Germany’s 20th-seeded Ilka Semmler and Katrin Holtwick.
Akers and Hochevar are seeded 12th and will play Greece’s Vicky Arvaniti and Maria Tsiartsiani, ranked 21st, in the first round.
The men’s country quota tournament will also be played on Tuesday, when the United States’ Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) will play with Billy Strickland (Malibu, Calif.) against Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) and John Mayer (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) for the chance to move on to the qualifying round.
Complete information about the FIVB World Tour is available on the FIVB web site.