Top seeds continue winning ways through day two of AVP Milwaukee Open

AVP returns to Milwaukee for first time since 1998; AVP to crown new Milwaukee Open champions on Sunday - Women’s finals at 1:30 p.m., Men’s finals at 3 p.m. at Bradford Beach; Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings looks to make history by tying all-time domestic victories record with first career win in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE, WISC. (July 5, 2014) – The full field of 32 teams was pared down to just six men’s and six women’s teams as the AVP Milwaukee Open rolled through Saturday with a full day of action at Bradford Beach.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and teammate April Ross, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist, secured swift victories over Sarah Day and Olaya Pazo 21-10, 21-10, and Jen Fopma and Whitney Pavlik 21-15, 21-18 on Saturday, sending the top seeded women’s team a Sunday semifinal match scheduled for 10:55 a.m.

Walsh Jennings – already the all-time winningest female player in beach volleyball – can add to her 117 career victories (49 international/68 domestic) on Sunday by winning her 69^th open title on U.S. soil, which would tie her for the all-time lead in domestic tournament wins with longtime former teammate Misty May-Treanor.

Along with Walsh Jennings and Ross, second-seeded Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat advanced to Sunday’s other semifinal match with two victories on the second day of competition. The third-, fourth- and fifth-seeded teams also remain alive in the women’s contender’s bracket.

Nicole Branagh is shaking things up in her first appearance in an AVP event since 2012. The Olympian entered the tournament as the tenth seed with teammate Amanda Dowdy. Branagh and Dowdy stumbled Saturday morning, dropping their first match, but battled back in their next two, unseating sixth-seeded Kim DiCello and Tealle Hunkus, 21-19, 21-17 in their third match of the day, stamping their ticket to Sunday morning’s contender’s bracket match with a chance to win their way into the semifinals.

Wisconsin native Sheila Shaw (Muskego/University of Wisconsin) and partner Kathryn Piening, seeded ninth, dropped their first match of the day and second of the tournament to sixteenth seeds Dana Fiume and Hilary Pavels 21-19,16-21, 15-13 in the contender’s bracket, ending their quest for the title.

On the men’s side, top-seeded Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson cruised through Saturday’s play, earning wins over Pedro Brazao and Steve Grotowski 21-17, 21- 13 and fourth-seeded Todd Rogers and Theo Brunner, 21-15, 21-15 to earn a berth into Sunday’s men’s semifinals.

Also earning a ticket to Sunday’s semifinal was Olympic gold medalist Phil Dalhausser and two-time Olympian Shawn Rosenthal, seeded sixth. They cut down second-seeded Tri Bourne and John Hyden in an exciting three-game match that ended 19-21, 21-17, 15-11.

Bill Kolinske (Big Bend) and Dave McKienzie won their first match of the day in the contender’s bracket, ousting eighth-seeded Billy Allen and Braidy Halverson 21-10, 21-15, and took third seeds John Mayer and Brad Keenan to three games before suffering their second loss of the tournament to Mayer/Keenan 21-17, 19-21, 15-5 – ending their bid for the Milwaukee title. Kolinske’s performance at Bradford Beach tied his career best with a ninth-place finish on the AVP tour.

Main draw play will resume Sunday at 8;45 a.m. and will conclude with the women’s final, scheduled for 1:30 p.m., and the men’s final, scheduled for 3 p.m. General admission tickets to the AVP Milwaukee Open are free.

Tournament coverage will be streamed live at www.avp.com/live, from 8:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. CT, and Sunday’s tournament finals will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network starting at 3 p.m. CT.