HUNTINGTON BEACH — Whether they’re playing in Brazil, Santa Barbara, Italy, Poland or in the OC, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser are just plain unbeatable right now.
The local pro beach volleyball stars added a sixth title to their collection this season on Sunday, beating John Hyden and Sean Scott, 21-16, 18-21, 15-9, in the championship match of the AVP Nivea Huntington Beach Open.
It was the fourth Huntington Beach Open crown for the 2008 Olympic Champions and the 39th career AVP title for the top-seeded pair. They split $20,000.
On the women’s side, Orange County natives and No. 2-seeded Jen Kessy and April Ross beat top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh, 14-21, 21-12, 15-11, for their fifth career AVP title and their first in Southern California.
“It means a lot,” Kessy said of winning on home sand. “I’m an Orange County local. My parents both are from San Clemente and went to San Clemente High School, so it’s something huge. I came down here in high school and watched tournaments and always dreamed of being in this final and winning it – my dream had become a reality, which is amazing.”
Added Ross, “That’s always on our brains. We’ll take any win … but it’s super tough in Southern California. Everyone wants to win here. Everyone’s from here and trains here, and all our friends and family are here. This is kind of like the grand slam of the AVP – here, Manhattan and Hermosa.”
Rogers-Dalhausser have won everywhere. They are 3-for-3 in AVP Tour events and 3-for-4 on the Swatch-FIVB International Tour. They’ll return overseas this week for a Grand Slam tournament in Moscow.
Dalhausser’s blocking and cannon-ball serves proved to be the difference against No. 2 seeded Hyden-Scott on Sunday afternoon. Leading 9-6 in the third game, Dalhausser stuffed Hyden for points on back-to-back plays and then reeled off an ace serve to blow open the deciding game, 12-6.
“Phil’s serves were pretty tough,” Hyden said. “In the middle of the game, he was whipping balls. Against that team, you’ve got to fight off his serve and get him off the line, and we didn’t do that today.”
Like he did in the final in Santa Barbara, Dalhausser ran up to the net on an overpass of his serve and pounded it to the sand for a point.
“It’s like digging,” Hyden said of passing the blistering jump serve from the 6-9 Dalhausser. “You’re not actually passing the ball. You’re just back there trying to get it up in the air for a guy to set it.”
Dalhausser served four aces in the final and 14 in the tournament.
“You almost force the other team into a transition set, because they just dug the ball, and now they’re trying to scramble and transition,” said Rogers of trying to control the big serve. “Your percentage goes way down when you’re trying to do that.”
Dalhausser said he knew from warming up before the final that he was in a groove from the service line.
“I would say it was like a nine out of 10,” he said. “When I’m hitting that line pretty consistently, that opens up the middle of the court and usually causes problems for the other team.”
Dalhausser’s dominance reflected in Scott’s statistics for the match. He was forced into nine hitting errors and was held to a .195 hitting average.
“I’ve never seen anybody like (Dalhausser).” Scott said. “I’ve played on the world tour for a number of years, and there are a lot of big guys out there. But he can serve, he can set, he can block, he’s good.”
Dalhausser had 80 kills, hit .496 and posted 35 blocks. Rogers hit .419 with 94 kills and picked up 60 digs in going 6-0 in the tournament.
Hyden-Scott, who’ve lost their last three meetings against Rogers-Dalhausser after beating them four times last year, managed to take a game off them. A Hyden ace gave his team a 17-14 lead in Game 2 and they made a couple of big plays down the stretch to force a third game.
But as good as Hyden-Scott play on the AVP Tour, Rogers-Dalhausser are performing at an out-of-this-world level.
2010 AVP Nivea Tour
$200,000 AVP Nivea Tour Huntington Beach Open presented by Bud Light Lime
Huntington Beach, Calif.
MEN
Semifinals (losers eliminated, place third, split $9,500)
Phil Dalhausser, Ventura, Calif. / Todd Rogers, Solvang, Calif. (No. 1-seeded main draw team) d. Casey Patterson, Huntington Beach, Calif. / Kevin Wong, Honolulu (8), 21-19, 21-15 (48 minutes);
John Hyden, Sherman Oaks, Calif. / Sean Scott, Redondo Beach, Calif. (2) d. Jake Gibb, Costa Mesa, Calif. / Sean Rosenthal, Corona Del Mar, Calif. (4), 21-18, 18-21, 15-13 (1:10).
Championship (winners split $20,000; losers place second, split $15,000)
Dalhausser / Rogers (1) d. Hyden / Scott (2), 21-16, 18-21, 15-9 (1:25).
WOMEN
Semifinals (losers eliminated, place third, split $9,500)
Nicole Branagh, Torrance, Calif. / Misty May-Treanor, Coral Springs, Fla. (1) d. Angie Akers, Redondo Beach, Calif. / Tyra Turner, Fort Myers Beach, Fla. (6), 21-15, 21-17 (:39);
Jennifer Kessy, San Clemente, Calif. / April Ross, Costa Mesa, Calif. (2) d. Rachel Scott, Redondo Beach, Calif. / Elaine Youngs, Durango, Colo. (3), 21-9, 21-11 (:38).
Championship (winners split $20,000; losers place second, split $15,000)
Kessy / Ross (2) d. Branagh / May-Treanor (1), 14-21, 21-12, 15-11 (1:17).
