Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal won a second consecutive FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medal when they defeated Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt in the Gstaad Gold medal match on Sunday in Switzerland.
The American pair won the previous tournament, the Stavanger (Norway) Grand Slam and they continued their strong form in the Swiss Alps, winning 2-0 (21-17, 21-17).
“We keep getting better and better,” Rosenthal told the FIVB. “When Phil can serve and block like that and I’m picking up tough balls at the back, we’re going to be a pretty tough team to beat.”
For 2008 Olympic champion Dalhausser, it is another medal to add to his collection from the Swiss Alps. The Swiss-born player won the 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and gold at the 2010 Grand Slam and silver in 2011 former partner Todd Rogers.
Members of his Swiss family were in the crowd to cheer him and Rosenthal on and he responded with a dominant performance at the net.
“I love coming to Gstaad, it is such a beautiful place, the most beautiful on the Tour,” Dalhausser said. “My family is here, so it always fun to play in front of them because I don’t get to play in front of them too often.”
Nick Lucena and Ryan Doherty won the bronze medal, needing only two sets to beat Germany’s Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik 2-0 (21-19, 21-16). It was their second World Tour medals in their first season together. They won a silver at the Berlin Grand Slam.
“It is exciting to come back after a not so great finish in Norway (Stavanger),” Lucena said. “With the rainy weather and coming through the qualifier it has been quite tough mentally, but Ryan played great all week and we had some great defence.
“There are so many great teams that it is quite difficult to do this. We are a little inconsistent right now, but Ryan is playing only his second season and he is getting better every tournament.”
Next up on the World Tour calendar is the Transavia Hague Grand Slam which runs from July 15-20.
