AVP New Orleans: Dalhausser-Patterson, Taylors, Cheng-Flint, TKN into semis

KENNER, Louisiana — Phil Dalhausser is still the best. 

No matter what happens Sunday, the 42-year-old beach-volleyball legend is still the top big man in the sport. 

Retirement be damned, because Dalhausser won the season-opening AVP Austin with Andy Benesh three weeks ago and just might win the AVP Pro Series New Orleans Open at Coconut Beach with Casey Patterson.

And you know what? If the USA wasn’t a part of the convoluted, drawn-out, FIVB qualifying system and simply had a tournament that sent the winners to the Olympics, the 6-foot-9 Dalhausser would be on board to try for a spot in Paris in 2024.

But that’s a long way off. First up Sunday are two matches to see who gets to play top-seeded Dalhausser and Patterson in one semifinal and third-seeded Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in the other. Dalhausser and Patterson get the winner of the match between Miles Partain and Paul Lotman against Billy Allen and Jeremy Casebeer. The Taylors get the winner of Chase Budinger-Troy Field and Skylar del Sol-Andrew Dentler.

On the women’s side, second-seeded Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss get the winner of the match between third-seeded Zana Muno and Brandie Wilkerson and fifth-seeded Meghan Kraft and Emily Stockman.

Top-seeded Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint knew Saturday night who they would play Sunday, because sixth-seeded Emily Day and Hailey Harward moved into the semifinals by default.

In a much anticipated Saturday-night winners-bracket match, the LSU kids, Kloth and Nuss (who grew up just a few miles away), were playing Toni Rodriguez, their former LSU teammate, and UCLA product Savvy Simo. TKN, as Kloth and Nuss are called, were up 14-8 in the first set when Rodriguez hurt her right knee.

Rodriguez, sadly, knows what it feels like. She blew out one knee while at St. Amant High School, about 40 miles away, the other while at LSU. She sobbed in the players area while being looked at by AVP trainers and attended to by her parents and coach, never even able to test her leg. She and Savvy ultimately had to forfeit, also withdrawing from their Sunday contenders-bracket match against Day and Harward.

It was quite a disappointment on many fronts, not the least of which was that many of the fans who came to see the former LSU stars left Coconut Beach after the match was called.

Dalhausser and the 6-6 Patterson, also 42, had not played together since King of the Beach in Las Vegas in 2009. They won a thrilling first set and then overpowered Budinger and Field 24-22, 21-15. They practiced together once before they came here.

“We’re in that twilight stage where we can trust that the muscle memory from 20 years of playing will catch up,” Patterson said. “It’s also real easy when you’ve got a guy like him. You just feel it. You don’t have to say anything, we just feel where we need the ball. It’s really fun.”

Dalhausser said after the 2021 season that he was done with international travel but would still fulfill some sponsor obligations and play some AVP events in 2022. 

Dalhausser, who lives in Orlando and runs his own beach club, has lost nothing despite not training for a long season and competing as he had in years past. That was evident in Austin and certainly here.

“It’s kind of like riding a bike a little bit,” he said. “You know both of us have gotten so many reps over the years, and we’ve stayed in shape. Thankfully we’re playing at night where it’s a little cooler. But everything comes back really quickly.”

Dalhausser, who has won every AVP major award multiple times, teamed with Todd Rogers to win the 2008 Olympics gold medal, played in the 2012 Games with Rogers, and in the 2016 Games with Nick Lucena.

But he and his wife, Jennifer, have two kids, she’s developing her career as a real-estate agent, and last summer, after going to the Tokyo Olympics, Dalhausser said it was time to step away from the international-travel grind.

But if volleyball had a one-time tournament to pick its Olympics team?

“Oh, yeah, I would play,” Dalhausser said without hesitation. “If it was like one tournament, or a one-off, or if USAV just chose their athletes because some countries do. But I’m not about to travel the tour.”

Crabb and Sander advanced by beating Lotman and Partain 18-21, 21-16, 15-10. Among those eliminated Saturday were Lucena, Dalhausser’s old partner, and Benesh, knocked out by del Sol and Dentler 24-22, 21-19. Del Sol, 31, has never won on the AVP Tour, finishing seventh three times. Dentler, 33, has finished 13th twice. They got into this tournament by qualifying last week in San Antonio.

Cheng and Flint battled to a 25-23, 19-21, 15-11 victory over Kraft and Stockman. Among those knocked out were the Brazilians, Liliane Maestrini and Olympian Larissa Maestrini, who lost to Day and Harward 21-16, 18-21, 16-14. 

The field is left with five Olympians: Dalhausser, Patterson, Taylor Crabb, Cheng (formerly Claes) and Wilkerson (Canada).

Click here for the men’s results and schedule, courtesy of BVBinfo.com, and here for the women’s.

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Lee Feinswog

Lee Feinswog is the publisher and editor of VolleyballMag.com
Contact him at [email protected]