BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Toughin g it out
REUNITED: Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena hope to make a late run to the Olympics. (Photo: FIVB)
America’s most decorated beach players, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Phil Dalhausser, weathered a turbulent summer with
clutch play and impressive fi nishes by Don Patterson
choice, one by accident. In Walsh Jennings’ case, things got so crazy after she dislocated her hitting shoulder twice (fi rst while digging, then while hitting) that she played left-handed and served underhand at three consecutive FIVB tournaments in late summer so she could continue gathering Olympic qualifying fi nishes. She fi nally shut down her season and had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum on Sept. 10. For Dalhausser, who missed time this summer recovering from his second abdominal injury in the past eight months, the season took a huge change of direction when he made a decision that surprised a lot of people – “Shocked me,” says two-time beach Olympian Jake Gibb – to terminate his two-and-a-half-year partnership with Sean Rosenthal and reunite with his old Florida buddy, Nick Lucena. With Walsh Jennings and Dalhausser at the epicenter, the summer season was highly intriguing, and the drama will continue through the
K 28 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
erri Walsh Jennings and Phil Dalhausser, two Olympic gold medalists who plan to lead the charge for more gold medals next summer in Rio de Janeiro, had a wild summer, one by
fall FIVB schedule as teams elbow for improved positions entering the stretch run of Olympic qualifying in 2016.
PHIL’S DECISION
The turbulence started in July when Lucena sent Dalhausser an email asking if Dalhausser wanted to switch partners and play with him. Lucena had been playing with Theo Brunner, and they were looking really good at that time for one of the two U.S. men’s berths in the Olympics: second in points with 2,920 behind the top Ameri- can team of Jake Gibb-Casey Patterson, who had 3,200 points at the time of the split, and ahead of the third U.S. team of John Hyden-Tri Bourne, who had 2,520.
Lucena and Dalhausser have been friends forever. They broke into the sport together, moving from their native Florida to play AVP as rookies in 2003 and winning their fi rst tournament together in 2005. In 2006, Dalhausser split to play alongside veteran defender Todd Rogers, a partnership that netted 42 victories and an Olympic gold medal in 2008. But the 6-9 blocker, who many regard as the top
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78