A clean-shaven Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser regrouped from their London Olympics disappointment and took the bronze medal at the FIVB World Tour Grand Slam event in Stare Jablonki, Poland.
Rogers-Dalhausser lost to eventual champions and Olympic bronze medalists Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins of Latvia in the semifinals and defeated compatriots Sean Rosenthal and Jake Gibb for third place. Rosenthal-Gibb were forced to forfeit after Gibb aggravated a back injury early in the match.
Rogers arrived at the tournament in Poland without his familiar goatee.
?I decided to shave it all off while in Paris with (my daughter) Hannah,? Rogers said in an email to Presidio Sports. ?No reason, really. Just decided to do it.?
The bronze gives Rogers-Dalhausser four medals for the 2012 FIVB World Tour season. They won gold at the Brasilia Open and Shanghai Grand Slam and took bronze at the Prague Open and Stare Jablonki.
At the Olympics, they were eliminated in the Round of 16.
?It?s been a disappointing year,? Rogers told the FIVB. ?When we look back we made the semifinals in six of our eight tournaments. Most would consider that a pretty good year, but Phil and I have set our sights and expectations a bit higher.
?We wanted to win really bad. There are five teams on the Tour with two wins each and it would have been nice for us to have won a third.?
Asked if the tournament in Poland was the final of his career on the international tour, Rogers, 38, said he wasn?t sure. ?I?d like to play in some of the fun ones next year, but we shall see.?
Rogers-Dalhausser return home and will next play in the two AVP events in September in Cincinnati and Santa Barbara.
Rogers said he was skipping this weekend?s Manhattan Open due to low prize money.
?The top players need to stop playing for peanuts, and Phil and I feel it is our duty to try and help that cause,? he said.
