Sean Rosenthal no AVP roadblock for Todd Rogers, Theo Brunner
AVP Huntington Beach Open facts
Information for the AVP Huntington Beach Open 2014:
Site: HB Pier, north side
Admission: Free with ticket options
Schedule: Today, main draw (9 a.m.-6 p.m.) Sunday, main draw begins at 9:15 a.m. Women’s final, 1 p.m.; Men’s final, 2 p.m.
Tournament information:https://avp.webconnex.com/hbotickets
Parking information:www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/residents/parking/garages_lots.cfm
Social tags: #avphbchamps #avp2014
They’ve looked across the net at each other for years, but Friday was different for Todd Rogers and Sean Rosenthal.
This time, there was no Thin Beast in between them.
With Phil Dalhausser, the 6-foot-9 dominator, nursing a strained abdominal muscle, Rosenthal went out and picked up Ty Tramblie as a partner, which is a pretty savvy pick-up. But it also meant the 6-4 Rosenthal suddenly became his team’s blocker.
It was a bit of a bumpy ride as Rogers, one of the sport’s best-ever shotmakers, and Theo Brunner scored a 21-14, 21-18 victory in the first round of the AVP Huntington Beach Open.
With Dalhausser, Rosenthal has developed into one of the sports premier defensive players, just as Rogers was when he and Dalhausser captured the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics.
“I’ve seen a lot of blocking from the back row but when I’m actually up there, I’m not sure what I’m doing,” said Rosenthal, who really hasn’t had to block since he played with Larry Witt in the mid-2000s. “It’s different. It’s been a while since I’ve done it full time.
“You kind of get a rhythm. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to get my hands on a few more balls. But that’s a tough team, one of the best out there.
“(Rogers has) done it for 15 years, being tough to block. He’s crafty and I don’t even know if I touched one ball (he hit).”
The fifth-seeded Rogers and Brunner had lost in the first round of the previous two tournaments since their runner-up finish at Manhattan Beach, but were still wary of Rosenthal’s presence and the athletic ability and defense of Tramblie,
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Sean as the primary blocker or at least split-blocking,” Rogers said. “But he’s such a great athlete, he can do either side of the coin. Obviously he’s focused more on the defensive side and he’s a better defensive player than blocker, but a guy like that, he can pretty much do whatever he wants to do.”
It took a while for Rosenthal and Tramblie to get rolling, but they actually held an 18-17 lead in the second game before Rogers and Brunner pulled away.
Rogers and Brunner were taking no chances against the new partners, who had never played together before.
“They can be (dangerous),” Rogers said. “You’ve got to kind of go out and forget they’re a new team, really focus on your game and not make a lot of errors and keep the pressure on them, mostly because they don’t have that chemistry.”
Dalhausser’s absence wasn’t the only anomaly on the men’s side of the tournament. Fourth-seeded Brad Keenan and John Mayer were knocked off by Jeremy Casebeer and Will Montgomery, 16-21, 21-14, 15-10. It’s the first time the 13th-seeded duo has played together since 2012,
Then 11th-seeded qualifiers Brian Bomgren and Tim Bomgren took out sixth-seeded Billy Allen and Trevor Crabb, 14-21, 21-17, 15-13.
With the upsets as a backdrop, top-seeded Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb went out and took care of business against 16th-seeded Duncan Budinger and Bobby Webb, 21-10, 21-14, in 33 minutes for the quickest match of the day.
“Especially here at home where there’s expectations, it’s good to be overly ready for that first match, come out overly aggressive whether you’re making errors or not and just have a real aggressive mind-set,” Patterson said. “We served really well, we were aggressive in transition and I think that kind of sets the tone.”
They’ll face eighth-seeded Avery Drost and Derek Olson in their first match today as they aim for finishing the 2014 AVP tour with four wins in the final five events.
“Every day is a separate tournament,” Patterson said. “You can have a great Saturday and then Sunday morning feel different. Every match feels different. That’s why we focus so much on our warmup to get as close to the same feeling every time.”
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