JOSE CUERVO PRO BEACH VOLLEYBALL SERIES
twice the same day, including a businesslike 21-18, 21-17 dismantling in the fi nals on sta- dium court. That same morning they survived a 21-17, 19-21, 21-19 win against Rosenthal and Gibb that was more suspenseful and mentally draining.
Jennings, who had not won on American soil since 2008 in San Diego, was emotional on stage when he talked about surviving some diffi cult times the last few years. He credited the support of his high-profi le wife and love of his family for helping him be in such a strong place.
“This is why I started playing this game at a young age,” Jennings said. “I fell in love with it. I still love it. I still have the passion for it. I’m a little smarter. It means the world to me to be able to win it. On the other side, it’s not my life. If I would have lost that fi nal, I wouldn’t be devastated. I’d be bummed for an hour, but I get to go home to my kids and my wife every day and it’s a blessing.” Jennings joked about getting Salgado to marry his sister-in-law so they could play FIVB events together as Americans, but he remained serious about earning one of the
two U.S. berths for the 2012 Olympics next year in London. Jennings and Wong currently trail Todd Rogers-Phil Dalhausser, Rosenthal-Gibb and Matt Fuerbringer-Nick Lucena in the Olympic qualifying points race.
“I want Kevin Wong to play next year and we’re going to Morocco in a week and we’re still in the hunt. We can still pass some teams. We have a chance to make it to London. If we don’t make it to London and I feel like I do today, I’ll be trying to go to Brazil and I won’t look at my age.”
HERMOSA HEAVEN: Sean Rosenthal played hard for his hometown faithful in Hermosa Beach.
Salgado has been a Brazilian star since he was 16. He remembers playing in Hermosa Beach as a 17-year-old in a smaller event and always wanted to return. “It was a dream come true to play in Hermosa Beach,” he said. “I saw Casey play in Manhattan Beach and he is such a great player. I always wanted to come back here to California and play with him. He is my very best friend on the FIVB Tour and it is a dream come true to win with him.”
The run by Jennings and Salgado, which included a 6-0 record, not only spoiled the hometown return of Rosenthal and Gibb, but ruined the exclamation point of what was a monumental season for John Hyden and Sean Scott. The pair had won the previous two Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Series events in Manhattan Beach and Miami, as well as the U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball in Cincinnati. In total, they won eight domestic events in 2011, including fi ve victories on the Corona Light Wide Open Tour.
They were upset in Hermosa in the
ROSS IS BOSS: April Ross swings away against Jenny Kropp during the fi nals.
38 | VOLLEYBALLUSA
winner’s bracket by John Mayer and Matt Prosser and then were kept out of the fi nals after losing a semifi nal to Rosenthal and Gibb to fi nish in third place along with the surprise team of Paul Baxter and Pedro Brazao. “It’s been a great season for us,” Scott said. “We just tried to remain focused on the court and not let things out of our control affect us.” Both players were disappointed a system to conduct a U.S. Trials for beach volleyball will not be in place in time for 2012. “It’s something we were hoping for,” Hyden said. “I feel like we have played this year like we are one of the best teams.” On the women’s side in Hermosa Beach, Jen Kessy and April Ross made a season-end- ing domestic statement with a convincing
victory over Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik. Brooke Hanson and Lauren Fendrick, who won the U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball in Cincinnati, fi nished third along with Nicole Branagh and Lisa Rutledge. Kessy, who has 23 career wins, said it was nice to sink her toes into domestic sand. “The events are just different in Europe or Asia,” she said. Everything is structured differently and businesslike, which makes it very profes- sional. Here I walk from the players’ tent to go to the bathroom and I’m talking to 25 people that I know. The fans here are so knowledge- able.”
Ross and Kessy placed third at the Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Series event in Miami -- losing to Kropp and Pavlik in the semifi nals. “That team has really improved,” she said. “This tournament I wanted to come out more focused. We were better at that this weekend.” Some of that focus includes video work studying opponents, specifi cally head-to-head matches. That’s standard procedure on the FIVB Tour. They watched video at 7 a.m of the teams they would likely face that day. “We know their tendencies and we played their tendencies,” Kessy said of Kropp and Pavlik. “That is the part of being mentally prepared for every match.”
Ross also questioned their focus in Flori-
da. “We were kind of wishy-washy going into the last three domestic tournaments,” Ross said. “We weren’t quite sure how to approach them. We want to rest; we feel like we’re so mentally stressed all summer trying to do well for the Olympic qualifying. It was hard to come back and do well just to do well.” Kessy said the duo will be recharged for 2012. “Our goal is to be the No. 1 American team going into the Olympics,” she said. “That means fi nishing ahead of Kerri (Walsh) and Misty (May-Treanor), but that’s what we are shooting for.”
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