Walsh Jennings, Ross Win Long Beach Tournament

LONG BEACH, CA — Olympic bronze medalists Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross defeated Lili and Elsa of Spain, 21-16, 21-16, in Sunday's women's final of the $800,000 World Series of Beach Volleyball on Alamitos Beach in Long Beach.

Third-seeded Pedro and Evandro of Brazil defeated the top-seeded Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, 21-19, 17-21, 15-9, in the men's final.

Walsh Jennings and Ross trailed for the last time at 5-4 in the first set. They took the lead for good in the second set at 12-11 and closed the match with a 5-2 run.

"We're always shooting for the gold medal and we put ourselves in the position we want and it's about executing when the time comes," said Walsh Jennings, who teamed with the now-retired Misty May-Treanor to win Olympic gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

"We won ugly the first couple matches and this is the first time it felt kind of pretty."

Walsh Jennings had 14 kills, two blocks and two service aces in the 50- minute match. Ross had 12 kills, four service aces and three digs. Elsa had 11 kills, eight digs and one service ace.

"I think it was a close (match) even if the numbers don't say it," Elsa said. "It was an interesting match, we could have done better probably but we are happy about our tournament and getting the silver medal. We played great, very consistent."

The Walsh Jennings-Ross team is 4-0 against Lili and Elsa, including three victories this year.

Walsh Jennings and Ross were seeded first, Lili and Elsa seventh. Lili and Elsa lost in the round of 16 at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

In the men's final, Pedro and Evandro trailed throughout the first set until a 5-0 run gave them a 19-17 lead.

Dalhausser and Lucena closed the second set with a 5-2 run.

The Americans never led in the third set.

"They stole that first set from us, which is kind of disappointing because then maybe we win the match," said Dalhausser, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist. "We were up 17-14 and they grabbed it from us. But they earned it. They played great.

"We did a good job the first and second set of fending off (Evandro's) serve but then he got it going in the third. He got me on my line. It's just on you so fast, so you have to make a decision right away. Evandro played great today. Pedro sided out really well whenever he had the opportunity."

The 6-foot-11-inch Evandro made eight blocks and had two service aces in the 62-minute match.

Fifth-seeded Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude defeated fellow Germans Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler, 21-16, 21-17, in the 38-minute women's third- place match. Holtwick and Ilke Semmler were seeded 13th.

Second-seeded Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins of Latvia defeated 20th-seeded Alex Rangheiri and Marco Caminati of Italy, 21-18, 21-19, in the 41- minute men's third-place match.

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.

The tournament concluded the 2016 regular season for the World Tour conducted by FIVB, volleyball's international governing body. The Swatch World Tour Finals will be held Sept. 13-18 in Toronto.

— City News Service, photo courtesy of fivb.com