USA men's beach volleyball players return home to open domestic tour
After two weeks of playing on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, five of the United States' top men's beach volleyball teams return to American beach for the first domestic event of the season.
After placing 13th last week in Brazil, sixth-seeded Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger paced the United States effort this week despite dropping both of their matches on Friday to teams from Brazil and Germany at the FIVB South African Open in Cape Town. The pair placed ninth to split $5,500 in the $180,000 event.
Three of the four other United States in the second men's event on the 2004 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour also dropped matches Friday to place 17th. Casey Jennings and Matt Fuerbringer, the fifth American team in the event, was eliminated earlier in the week in a country quota playoff Tuesday.
All five teams open their domestic season next week in Florida for the Fort Lauderdale Open at South Beach Park. The $125,000 starts Friday (April 2) with qualifying. Main draw action begins Saturday and concludes Sunday.
The event is the season opener for the Association of Volleyball Professionals as the tournament also features competition for women where Misty May and Kerri Walsh are the reigning domestic champions after posting a perfect 39-0 mark last season with eight gold medal finishes as the pair combined for over $143,000 in earnings.
May and Walsh, who have now won the last five SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events they have entered, also have a 59-match winning streak. The pair ended the 2003 season by winning the FIVB World Championships in Rio de Janeiro along with capturing the women's SWATCH-FIVB World Tour season opener in Fortaleza (Brazil) earlier this month.
Holdren and Metzger, who scored wins over teams from France and Germany Thursday, dropped a 21-18 and 23-21 decision Friday morning match to third-seeded Benjamin Insfran and Harley Marques of Brazil. The American tandem was eliminated after losing 21-16, 17-21 and 15-9 to ninth-seeded Christoph Dieckmann and Andreas Scheuerpflug of Germany.
Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack of Australia eliminated the 17th-seeded American tandem of Eric Fonoimoana/Kevin Wong earlier Friday (19-21, 21-14 and 15-10). Fonoimoana and Wong improved on their non-Main Draw qualifying performance in Brazil to split $3,000 for 17th.
Seeded fourth, Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard of the United States were also eliminated Friday by dropping a 21-19, 19-21 and 15-12 decision to 14th-seeded Sascha Heyer and Markus Egger of Switzerland. Blanton and Nygaard were also 17th in Brazil.
Todd Rogers and Sean Scott, who were seeded 11th after posting the United States' best finish in Brazil with a ninth, also lost Friday morning to fifth-seeded Mariano Baracetti and Martin Conde of Argentina (21-14 and 21-17).
Play continues with six matches Saturday, including the semi-finals to determine the pairings for Sunday's medal matches. The gold medal match is set for Sunday where the winning team will split the $27,000 first-place prize.
For more information on FIVB beach volleyball, go to the FIVB web site.
After placing 13th last week in Brazil, sixth-seeded Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger paced the United States effort this week despite dropping both of their matches on Friday to teams from Brazil and Germany at the FIVB South African Open in Cape Town. The pair placed ninth to split $5,500 in the $180,000 event.
Three of the four other United States in the second men's event on the 2004 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour also dropped matches Friday to place 17th. Casey Jennings and Matt Fuerbringer, the fifth American team in the event, was eliminated earlier in the week in a country quota playoff Tuesday.
All five teams open their domestic season next week in Florida for the Fort Lauderdale Open at South Beach Park. The $125,000 starts Friday (April 2) with qualifying. Main draw action begins Saturday and concludes Sunday.
The event is the season opener for the Association of Volleyball Professionals as the tournament also features competition for women where Misty May and Kerri Walsh are the reigning domestic champions after posting a perfect 39-0 mark last season with eight gold medal finishes as the pair combined for over $143,000 in earnings.
May and Walsh, who have now won the last five SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events they have entered, also have a 59-match winning streak. The pair ended the 2003 season by winning the FIVB World Championships in Rio de Janeiro along with capturing the women's SWATCH-FIVB World Tour season opener in Fortaleza (Brazil) earlier this month.
Holdren and Metzger, who scored wins over teams from France and Germany Thursday, dropped a 21-18 and 23-21 decision Friday morning match to third-seeded Benjamin Insfran and Harley Marques of Brazil. The American tandem was eliminated after losing 21-16, 17-21 and 15-9 to ninth-seeded Christoph Dieckmann and Andreas Scheuerpflug of Germany.
Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack of Australia eliminated the 17th-seeded American tandem of Eric Fonoimoana/Kevin Wong earlier Friday (19-21, 21-14 and 15-10). Fonoimoana and Wong improved on their non-Main Draw qualifying performance in Brazil to split $3,000 for 17th.
Seeded fourth, Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard of the United States were also eliminated Friday by dropping a 21-19, 19-21 and 15-12 decision to 14th-seeded Sascha Heyer and Markus Egger of Switzerland. Blanton and Nygaard were also 17th in Brazil.
Todd Rogers and Sean Scott, who were seeded 11th after posting the United States' best finish in Brazil with a ninth, also lost Friday morning to fifth-seeded Mariano Baracetti and Martin Conde of Argentina (21-14 and 21-17).
Play continues with six matches Saturday, including the semi-finals to determine the pairings for Sunday's medal matches. The gold medal match is set for Sunday where the winning team will split the $27,000 first-place prize.
For more information on FIVB beach volleyball, go to the FIVB web site.
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