The season has just begun, but local beach volleyball stars Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser already appear to be in midseason form.
Rogers-Dalhausser took apart home-country favorites Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti to win the season-opening Swatch FIVB World Tour tournament in Brasilia, Brazil on Sunday. Their 21-16, 21-12 victory in the Brasilia Open made them the first American men’s team in 14 years to win a gold medal in the South American country.
Seeded third in the event, the 2008 Olympic champions needed just 38 minutes to beat the fifth-seeded Brazilians. It was their third straight international tour victory as they won in their last two FIVB appearances last season in France and Austria. The Brasilia title earned them $30,000.
FIVB photo
Rogers-Dalhausser will come home for this weekend’s AVP Santa Barbara Open at West Beach with two championships under their belts. They shared first place in the season-opening AVP event in Fort Lauderdale two weeks ago after rain forced the cancellation of the final against Matt Fuerbringer and Nick Lucena.
The Santa Barbara Open begins Thursday with qualifiers for men and women. The main draw gets under way on Friday.
After losing early in the Brasilia Open, Rogers-Dalhausser had to win three matches on Saturday to reach the final. One of the wins came against 2009 world champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany.
“Both of us were in a good zone and everything went our way and not much went their way,” said Dalhausser of their performance in the final. “I think that playing three matches yesterday helped us both get into a very good rhythm for the championship match.”
Rogers noted the significance of the title.
“Being the first international tournament of the year and with all the great Brazilian players, I have always felt that this is the toughest tournament of the year,” he said. “If you are playing in Brazil, you will be playing the best.”
The last time an American men’s team had won on Brazilian sand was in 1996 in Fortaleza where Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh claimed the gold medal. Since then, Brazilian pairs had won 15 of the last 17 Brazilian stops with two German teams breaking through in 2004 and 2006. Teams from the United States had won the first seven Brazilian FIVB stops, including five by Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos (1987, 1989-1992).
In winning a gold medal on Brazilian sand for the first-time, Rogers and Dalhausser also avenged a title setback to Emanuel and Ricardo Santos in 2007 in Fortaleza. The 2007 world champions, Rogers and Dalhausser also became the first American men’s team to win an opening SWATCH FIVB World Tour event since 2003 when compatriots Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard topped the year’s first podium in Rhodes, Greece.
Rogers and Dalhausser jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first set and expanded it to 16-9 before Alison and Emanuel closed to 19-15. Rogers ended the set on a cross-court kill.
The teams went back and forth early in the second set before the Americans ran six straight points to break a 6-6 tie. They built the lead up to 20-10 as Dalhausser dominated the net with his blocking.
It was the ninth international title for Rogers-Dalhausser, who have played in 12 Swatch FIVB World Tour finals.
