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| GARY HIGGINS photos/The Patriot Ledger |
| Phil Dalhausser, right, puts the ball over the net past Adam Jewell during the Dalhausser/Todd Rogers victory. |
Dalhausser, Rogers
hold off threat
For The Patriot Ledger
QUINCY - Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers are the team to beat in this year’s AVP Crocs pro beach volleyball tour, and the seventh-seeded team of Dax Holdren and Sean Scott nearly did just that in third round action Friday, Aug. 17 at Marina Bay.
Dalhausser/Rogers have won 12 AVP events so far this year, and stand atop the Crocs Cup standings with 4,698 points, 450 points ahead of runners-up Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger. But the duo’s success this summer only means they have a large bullseye on their backs.
— Phil Dalhausser
Both teams had first-round byes Friday, and the Dalhauser/Rogers team had dispatched Adam Jewell and Jose Loiola by 21-12, 21-15 scores.
Hodren/Scott, meanwhile, battled through a 55-minute match with 10th seeds Brent Doble and Matt Olson, before eking out a 21-18, 21-17 win. That set up the showdown, a rematch between the two tandems that had met in the finals of last week’s AVP final at Manhattan Beach, Calif.
When their match got underway, Dalhauser and Rogers looked every bit the unbeatable tandem they’ve been, riding two Rogers aces and a succession of thunderous kills from the 6-foot-9 Dalhauser to a 9-2 lead. They pushed that advantage up to 16-7, before Holdren came to life with a kill and an ace, closing the gap a bit to 18-12. But Rogers got the game-winner with a precise crosscourt kill, for the 21-13 final.
But incredibly enough, the underdogs must’ve taken their between-sets break in a phone booth, for Holdren and Scott made their vaunted foes look leaden in the second game, earning a 21-13 victory.
“They served a lot better in that second game,” Rogers noted. “I also didn’t pass very well, and when I’m not passing well the big guy can’t go up there and rip it.’’
The third set was a see-saw battle all the way, with neither team able to get much cushion. A critical play came when a Rogers volley either did, or did not, glance off Holdren and out of bounds. The officials ruled it had touched the player, and while Holdren argued for several minutes, the call stood. That gave the favorites a 10-7 lead, where a reversal would’ve meant a 9-8 nail biter. A Dalhausser backline kill, and a thrilling sequence of three consecutive Dalhausser blocks at the net, capped off the 15-8 win.
“On that big play, they complained that I scooped the ball when I made the dig,” Rogers explained. “It was definitely touched off the block, while he was saying he didn’t touch it.
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“Before that third game we were just trying to focus in, and Phil just said ‘get me some good sets,” said Rogers. “We’ve played against those guys a lot - both are former partners of mine. I was with Dax for 11 years and played four years of AVP with Sean. So, we know them pretty well and vice-versa.”
Added Dalhausser: “We went in with the same team plan, which is to serve Sean. We try to do the little things well against him, because Dax is a crafty lefty who can make a big guy like me look stupid. And there’s always a sort of feeling-out process going on during the match.”
“Volleyball is a game of momentum,” Dalhausser added, “and we had everything going for us in that first game. The momentum turned greatly in that second game, mainly because they got started with some services aces, and we weren’t getting the blocks. But it is rare you will ever get two easy games against a good team like Dax and Sean.”
If the weather was sunny and warm, there was a persistent wind blowing across the stadium, and most players said it had an effect. The consensus was that one side was better than the other, with the east side, closest to the sea, more effective for serving.
“I’d say the wind wasn’t too bad, but it did help with the side where you were serving with the wind in your face,” said Dalhausser. “It didn’t seem to blow the sets very far, but it did help the serves.”
Said Rogers: “You definitely had a good side and a bad side out there. It was a little bit of a crosswind too.”
By outlasting their foes yesterday, Dalhauser/Rogers advance into the quarterfinals of the winner’s bracket, where they will meet third seeds Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal Saturday.
For The Patriot Ledger
QUINCY - The biggest upset in the men’s tournament at the AVP Boston Open Friday, Aug. 17 came when the fourth-seeded team of John Hyden and Brad Keenan fell in their first match of the day to 13th-seeded Canyon Ceman and Will Strickland.
That threw the Keenan/Hyden duo into what the AVP refers to as the “contenders bracket,’’ essentially the losers bracket, where it is still possible to come back and win the tourney, but much more difficult.
That was also the position the No. 7 seeds, Dax Holdren and Sean Scott, found themselves in after dropping a tight three-set decision to the tourney favorites, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. As the draw worked out, Keenan/Hyden had to win two matches to get to last night’s stadium match, a losers bracket showdown which they won, 21-15, 22-20, eliminating Holdren and Scott.
The competition is basically a double-elimination tourney until the final four. So every losers bracket match will result in a team going home.
Playing in their third match of the day, about 5 p.m., Keenan and Hyden made short work of Jeff Nygaard and Jason Ring, ousting the 12th seeds 21-12, 21-9. Methodical and patient, Keenan and Hyden showed the talent and poise that earned them their fourth seed. But they knew it was still an uphill battle to get back in the hunt from that bracket.
“Well, we lost when we shouldn’t have in that first match,’’ said Hyden. “It is really tough to have to come through the losers bracket, especially in these two-day tournaments, where you have to play all these games on the first day. There’s just not much rest in the losers bracket.”
That was a theme echoed earlier, as the top-ranked Dalhausser and Rogers enjoyed their third-set victory, knowing all too well how much easier it made their weekend in Boston.
“It feels much better to be here, sitting in the winners bracket semis, than the alternative,” said Dalhausser. “The worst we can do now is finish fifth, while they (Holdren/Scott) have to play one or two more matches today. We get a chance to enjoy Boston, which seems like a cool city. I want to check out tonight’s Red Sox game.”
Said Rogers: “It is absolutely easier to go from the winners bracket. Personally, I like to be done and done - have the day over early like this. Having to play less matches also makes it easier on your body. What time is that Red Sox game tonight?”
Friday’s nightcap in the men’s draw found Hyden/Keenan meeting Holdren/Scott.
“We played them once before, in the first tournament of the year,” noted Hyden. “We played really well and beat them, but they hadn’t been together that long and they’re really coming on lately. When our blocker is on (Keenan) we play really well,” Hyden added. “If he’s really dominating up front, it is much easier for me to play defense. We hope that’s how it goes tonight.”
Players encouraged thus far
Most of the AVP men’s pros felt the new stop in the Boston area was an exciting addition to the tour, and liked the Quincy venue at WaterWorks.
“It is great to bring the tour to a new city,” said Rogers. “And the key is getting it to a place where people will come. A Friday like today is hard to judge, because lots of people work. But Saturday-Sunday will be the test, to see what kind of crowds we get. My own litmus test is, your first time through a new city, the stands had better be two-thirds filled. There should be enough people in the Boston area to do that, and within two or three years we should know if this area will be a real solid stop for us.”
Said Dalhausser: “I’d only been in Boston once before, in February, when I played in an indoor match. I didn’t do much except play that time, so it is nice to be able to see some of the area now. The setup here is good - not our best, but not our worst, either. I just personally wish we were right on the water here, where we could at least see the water and the boats. I know they’re close by, but we can’t see them from the arena.”
Said Hyden: “The first time in a new city is tough, because no one knows much about the tour. But there are a lot of people outside today watching the secondary courts, and those are great for fans to walk right up next to the action. I like going into new cities, but it takes a couple or three years to really be able to tell how well the tour will do in them.”