April Ross (L) and Lauren Fendrick celebrate a pool-play win at the Long Beach Presidents Cup on July 13, 2017 in Long Beach, Calif.
The American duo of April Ross and Lauren Fendrick lost in straight sets to top-seeded Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes of Brazil in the championship match of the USA-vs.-the-world-format Long Beach Presidents Cup on Saturday in Long Beach, California.
Larissa and Talita, as they’re known, won 21-15 and 21-17.
In the bronze-medal match, Americans Sara Hughes and Kelly Claes defeated reigning Olympic gold medalists Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst 2-0 (21-17, 21-14). Hughes and Claes lost to Ross and Fendrick in the semifinal match earlier in the day.
Ross and Fendrick, who won the AVP Tour New York City Open together in June, also defeated Olympians Kerri Walsh Jennings and Nicole Branagh on their way to the championship game.
It was the first time that Ross and Walsh Jennings faced each other in competition since ending their partnership in May. They won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
Two U.S. men’s teams advanced to Sunday’s semifinals, where they will square off against each other for the chance to win the gold.
Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, the No. 3 seed who last weekend won a 5-star FIVB World Tour event, will face sixth-seeded Casey Patterson and Theo Brunner.
