Walsh Jennings, Ross To Play in Final of Long Beach Tournament

LONG BEACH, CA — Olympic bronze medalists Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross will face Lili and Elsa of Spain in Sunday's women's final of the $800,000 World Series of Beach Volleyball on Alamitos Beach in Long Beach.

The men's final will match top-seeded Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena against third-seeded Pedro and Evandro of Brazil.

The Walsh Jennings-Ross team is 3-0 against Lili and Elsa, including two victories this year.

"We just need to take care of the ball and be ready to adapt and adjust, but live in our strengths, certainly with April serving," Walsh Jennings said. "I'm due to stuff some balls, that's my goal (today), then pass some balls, because both teams serve pretty well."

Walsh Jennings and Ross advanced to the final with a 21-17, 21-16 victory over Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude of Germany. Lili and Elsa, who are seeded seventh, defeated 13th-seeded Katrin Holtwick and Ilke Semmler of Germany, 22-24, 21-16, 15-12, in Saturday's other women's semifinal.

Walsh Jennings and Ross broke an 8-8 tie in the opening set by scoring five of the next six points. The fifth-seeded Germans led 7-5 in the second set when the top-seeded American duo scored three consecutive points, including two on ace serves by Ross.

The Laboureur-Sude team retied the score, 14-14, but Walsh Jennings and Ross closed out the match on a 7-2 run.

"I think from the get-go we put pressure on them on our serve and it really played well to our defense and April covered every inch of sand out there and they never got a clean shot and that started getting bigger and bigger," said Walsh Jennings, who teamed with the now-retired Misty May- Treanor to win Olympic gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

Ross had 14 kills, four ace serves and 12 digs. Walsh Jennings had 11 kills and two blocks. Laboureur had 17 kills and 11 digs. Sude had seven kills and two blocks.

In the other women's semifinal, Holtwick and Semmler trailed 6-1 in the first set. They took their first lead at 21-20, closing the set on a 9-4 run.

Lili and Elsa -- who go by their first names -- never trailed in the second set, which they ended with a 5-1 run. They trailed 11-10 in the third set, then scored five of the final six points, including two on Lili blocks.

"We worked very hard, didn't quit and made some great plays at just the right time, especially in the second and third sets," said Elsa, who reached the round of 16 at the Olympics with Lili. "We got nervous in the first set and blew it, but calmed down and did what we had to do."

Dalhausser and Lucena advanced to the men's final with a 21-15, 17-21, 15-6 victory over 20th-seeded Alex Ranghieri and Marco Caminati of Italy.

The Americans trailed 4-3 in the final set when they went on an 11-0 run with Dalhausser serving.

Dalhausser and Lucena led 10-6 in the second set when Ranghieri and Caminati scored seven consecutive points.

Ranghieri's regular partner, Adrian Carambula, was unable to come to the United States for the tournament. Carambula and Ranghieri were eliminated in the round of 16 in the Olympics.

Ranghieri was playing with the 23-year-old Caminati for the second time.

"The first time we played we got a gold, so actually I'm disappointed we didn't win the semis," Ranghieri said, referring to their victory in the 2015 Lucerne Open.

"Marco has for sure a bright future in front of him because of the passion he brings on the court every match and the hard work he puts in during the week."

Pedro and Evandro defeated second-seeded Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins of Latvia, 14-21, 21-14, 15-11, in the other men's semifinal.

Pedro and Evandro lost in the round of 16 in the Olympics while Samoilovs and Smedins were unable to advance past pool play.

"It was tough to come here," Pedro said. "I wasn't sure if I would come because I was so disappointed, but this is sports."

The teams winning the finals will both split $57,000, the runners-up $43,000, third-place finishers $32,000 and fourth-place finishers $24,000.

A celebrity match featuring actor Josh Hutcherson and retired NFL receiving star Terrell Owens will also be played Sunday.

General admission seating is free. More information on the tournament, including preferred seating, is available at wsobv.com.

— City News Service, photo courtesy of FIVB