Membership
B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Communications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 28, 2012) – The U.S. men’s beach volleyball teams of Matt Fuerbringer/Nick Lucena and Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal both finished play Saturday at the Silesia Open, a 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour event in Myslowice, Poland.
The two teams are battling for the second U.S. men’s beach volleyball berth at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Both were playing in the consolation bracket on Saturday after losing main draw matches.
On Saturday, second-ranked Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Lucena (Santa Barbara, Calif.) fell to Spain’s third-seeded Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira, 21-14, 19-21, 15-11 in 50 minutes. Fuerbringer and Lucena finished the tournament tied for seventh.
Herrera and Gavira moved on to play the 13th-seeded Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and defeated the U.S. pair, 21-19, 21-11 in 32 minutes. Gibb and Rosenthal finished the tournament tied for fifth.
The next stop on the FIVB SWATCH World Tour, for both men and women, will be the Shanghai Grand Slam on April 30-May 6 in China.
To be eligible for the 2012 Olympic Games from the FIVB world ranking, athletes must have participated in at least 12 events as a team in the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Championships, the FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour and recognized Continental Tour Finals within the Olympic qualification period from January 1, 2011 to June 17, 2012.
After a team has competed in 12 events, the team’s 12 best results are used to determine qualifying points.
Fuerbringer and Lucena went into Poland leading Gibb and Rosenthal by 400 points.
The U.S. team of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara,
Calif.), the defending Olympic champion, has already secured enough points to qualify.
To view the men’s Olympic qualification rankings, visit the FIVB web site.
Complete information about the FIVB World Tour is available on the FIVB web site.