Dalhausser and Lucena tie for fifth at Beach World Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Olympians Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena tied for fifth at the FIVB Beach World Championships after being eliminated during the quarterfinals.

Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena lost 21-15, 21-18 to Russia’s Nikita Liamin/Viacheslav Krasilnikov, in the men’s quarterfinals at the FIVB Beach World Championships on Saturday in Vienna, Austria.

USA fell behind 4-0 in the opening points of the quarterfinal. Russia extended that lead to 12-5, and were hard to stop, forcing Dalhausser and Lucena to run out of time before being able to turn it around, U.S. falling 21-15.

“You need your best to beat them,” said Dalhausser. “They are a top team and I expected that. I thought that Viascheslav served the ball real tough. The first game he out-served us, he had three tape aces. His defense was good, but we couldn’t score any points but they made plays. We couldn’t get them into any passing trouble. They’ve won two tournaments so it’s not like they’re not a good team. When they are on, they are hard to beat.”

Despite dropping the first set, Dalhausser/Lucena swung the momentum in their favor, taking a 5-2 advantage in the second frame. In steady fashion, USA maintained a lead into a break at 11-10. Krasilnikov/Liamin returned to tie it 12-12, and after 15-all, Russia earned their lead at 19-16.

The pressure was on and unfortunately for the U.S., Russia carried their advantage until the end to take the second set and the match, 21-18.

“They’re one of the best teams in the world,” Lucena said of the Russians. “It wasn’t our best game, but hats off to them, they’re one of the best teams. The atmosphere here is great, the fans are good. It’s a long tournament but it was really exciting to play in.”

On Saturday morning, April Ross and Lauren Fendrick earned the women’s silver medal after falling to Germany in the title match. It was a personal best finish for Fendrick in an FIVB event, and the second time Ross has reached the podium at the World Championships – previously winning it in 2009 with Jennifer Kessy.

Team USA standings:
2nd Fendrick/Ross, the first career FIVB medal for Fendrick and the second World Champs podium finish for Ross
T5th Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, eliminated by Russia in the quarterfinal
T5th Brooke Sweat/Summer Ross, lost to Germany in the quarterfinal
T9th Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes, eliminated by Germany in the Round of 16
T17th Emily Day/Nicole Branagh, lost to Lauren Fendrick/April Ross in the Round of 32
T17thCasey Patterson/Theo Brunner, eliminated by Austria in the Round of 32
T17th Jake Gibb/Taylor Crabb, lost to Australia in the Round of 32
T17th John Hyden/Ryan Doherty, fell to Latvia in three sets in the Round of 32