It was almost like old times on East Beach Thursday morning.
Long-time partners and 2008 Olympic champions Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers were on the same court but on opposite sides of the net with new playing partners during a beach volleyball training session on Thursday morning.
Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal were trading jump serves and spikes with Rogers and Ryan Doherty. The two new teams are preparing for the upcoming FIVB World Tour, which starts April 23 in Fuzhou, China. Dalhausser, Rogers and Rosenthal are all experienced international players, while the 7-foot-1 Doherty is a rookie. He played in his first international event four weeks ago in the Cayman Islands and took a second with Rogers.
The seedings for the Fuzhou Open were released Friday (April 12) and Rogers-Doherty were seeded ninth for their FIVB debut. Dalhausser-Rosenthal were No. 2 behind Brazilians Emanuel Rego-Alison Cerutti. The new American team of Casey Patterson-Jake Gibb received the No. 3 seeding.
On the experience playing against Phil and Rosie, Doherty wrote on Twitter: “It was awesome until I realized we were keeping score.”
From 2006 to 2012, Rogers and Dalhausser trained at East Beach and developed into one of the all-time greatest teams in the world. The partnership ended last year.
The 6-9 Dalhausser hooked up with 6-5 “Rosie”, who last year with former partner Jake Gibb won the FIVB World Tour championship and finished fifth at the London Olympics. Rosenthal is considered one of the hardest hitters in the game.
In addition to playing with a new partner this year, Dalhausser is going to be a new father. He and wife, Jennifer Corral, are expecting their first baby in a matter of weeks.
