Local volleyball stars Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser won three matches Saturday to reach the final of an international beach tournament in Brazil.
Rogers-Dalhausser will face home-country favorites Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerruti today for the championship of the $380,000 Brasilia Open in Brasilia, Brazil. This is the 12th gold medal match on the FIVB World Tour for the Americans. They have an 8-3 record.
While Alison and Emanuel had to play only one match Saturday, Dalhausser and Rogers had to win two elimination confrontations before advancing to the semi-finals where they posted a 21-17 and 21-17 win in 44 minutes over seventh-seeded Benjamin Insfran and Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil.
“Matches against Brazilians are always tough, but we are in a good shape, so three matches in a day is not a problem for us,” said Dalhausser. “Tomorrow we need to play our style, trying to lead from the start. During the week, we’ve had good and bad moments, like a wave, because this is our second tournament (the other one a domestic event in the U.S.) of the year and we are not sharp enough yet. I’m sure we will become sharper during the season.”
After opening play Saturday with a 21-12 and 21-18 win in 44 minutes over second-seeded and 2009 FIVB world champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany, Dalhausser and Rogers advanced to their 18th SWATCH semi-finals in 26 FIVB starts together with a 21-15 and 26-24 victory in 48 minutes of Pedro Salgado and Ricardo.
Sunday’s finale will be the 43rd SWATCH FIVB World gold medal match featuring Brazilian and American teams. With Brazil leading 24-18, the two countries split two SWATCH finales last season with Alison and Harley playing in both gold medal matches. Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Alison and Harley 21-19, 12-21 and 15-12 for the Austria Grand Slam title in Klagenfurt last August. Emanuel is 3-1 against Dalhausser and Rogers in gold medal matches while playing with Ricardo.
