Local pro beach volleyball stars Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser and two other American teams elected to pass up this weekend’s domestic AVP Tour event in Virginia Beach, Va., and continue playing on the international circuit
Rogers-Dalhausser, Casey Jennings and Brad Keenan and Sean Rosenthal and Jake Gibb are competing in the $190,000 Patria Open in Prague, Czech Republic. Rogers-Dalhausser were upended by Rosenthal and Gibb in a second-round match on Thursday, 21-14, 23-21.
It was a rare early loss by top-seeded Rogers and Dalhausser, who have been dominating on both the Swatch-FIVB and AVP Tours. They’ve won three of five international events and were runners-up in a Grand Slam tourney in Russia that finished on Monday. They’re 3-0 on the AVP Tour.
Seeded 17th, Rosenthal-Gibb are the defending champions in Prague, winning there in 2008. Their victory Thursday was only the 11th against Rogers-Dalhausser since 2006. The series now stands at 38-11, including a 6-4 Rogers-Dalhausser edge in FIVB matches.
The tournament continues through Sunday, with the winning team sharing $30,000.
