Madness on the Sand: Upset Spices AVP Tournament

There was a feeling of September Madness at West Beach on Friday when the No. 2-seeded team of Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal went down to defeat in the opening round of the AVP Santa Barbara Open beach volleyball tournament. In a match that started out like a routine smackdown by the two Olympic players, the 15th-seeded fraternal team of Brian and Tim Bomgren from Woodbury, Minnesota, turned the tables and scored a stunning 16-21, 23-21, 15-7 victory.

Dalhausser and Rosenthal will have to try to fight their way back through the contender’s bracket, beginning with a 9:10 a.m. match Saturday against Casey Jennings and Nils Nielsen. Awaiting the winner of that match is none other than Todd Rogers, Dalhausser’s former partner. Rogers and Ryan Doherty, seeded No. 5, won their first-round match but then were swept by No. 4 Tri Bourne and John Hyden.

Bourne and Hyden will face top-seeded Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson in a winner’s bracket semifinal at 1:50 p.m. The other winner’s semi pits No. 11 Billy Allen and Braidy Halverson against No. 7 Adrian Carambula and Stafford Slick, who knocked off the Bomgren brothers in the second round.

The top three women’s teams avoided the upset bug. April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings lived up to expectations in their debut on the same side of the net. They hardly worked up a sweat in advancing to the winner’s semifinals, where they will face 13th-seeded Dianne DeNocochea and Raquel Ferreira. Also winning twice Friday were No. 2 Lauren Fendrick and Brittany Hochevar, and No. 3 Jennifer Fopma and Brooke Sweat.

Saturday will be the busiest day of the tournament, with 28 matches on four courts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Spectators have free access to all areas except for a covered VIP platform. Beach chairs and plenty of sunscreen are advisable.

On Sunday, there will be six matches on the center court – the championship semifinals, beginning at 11 a.m.; and the finals, the men’s at 3:30 and the women’s at 4:30 p.m.