Win by Youngs-Wacholder Rekindles Rivalry

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh have long been the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour’s most dominant team, but they temporarily passed the torch Sunday at the Hermosa Beach Open -- not only to another team, but also to another gender.

Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser defeated Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger, 19-21, 21-12, 17-5, in the men’s final and became the first men’s team to win four consecutive AVP tournaments since Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson did it in 1997.

That, coupled with a 21-18, 24-22 victory by Elaine Youngs and Rachel Wacholder over May-Treanor and Walsh in the women’s final, made for a momentary changing of the guard as the AVP’s poster team for winning streaks.

“I imagine we have the bull’s-eye in a big way,” Rogers said. “But it feels good to be on top. I have no complaints.”

Wacholder and Youngs have no complaints either. Their victory rekindled a rivalry that blossomed last year but seemed to taper after May-Treanor and Walsh defeated Youngs and Wacholder in Santa Barbara and Huntington Beach last month.

“I was embarrassed,” Wacholder said. “I know we’re way better than we’ve been in the finals. The last couple of tournaments, we’ve really done well in the early rounds, going through teams pretty easily and then gotten in the final and played flat, so I felt that we needed to show who we are. We’re not that blah team.”

Youngs said those losses had created a hint of doubt about whether she and Wacholder could regain the form that gave them three victories over May-Treanor and Walsh last year.

“This was a huge relief,” Youngs said. “It’s like ‘Oh my God, we can still do this.’ We’ve had a pretty poor taste in our mouth the last couple of events because we felt like we could play so much better.”

The fourth victory by Rogers and Dalhausser equals the tour-leading total of Metzger and Jake Gibb from last year, but winning four out of five is the type of streak some had predicted might never happen on the men’s tour because of the depth of talent among the top teams.

Sunday, they had to battle against a Lambert and Metzger team hungry for a victory but still winless despite making every final four this season.

They showed their determination in the third game of the final when they fell behind, 10-4, but went on a run and tied the score at 13-13. The teams traded points until it was 15-15, and then Rogers made two impressive digs to save points and put both away to win the match.

“They’re not making it look that hard,” Lambert said of Rogers and Dalhausser. “They’re clicking right now.”

Walsh and May-Treanor know all about being in stride. They had won six consecutive AVP tournaments and 38 consecutive AVP matches. Their last AVP loss was in August against Youngs and Wacholder in Boulder, Colo.

“I felt like we didn’t have the fire today,” Walsh said. “I thought it was too dead out there. I don’t think we played poorly, I just don’t think we had enough aggression and desire out there.”

The victories were not without a price. Youngs severely sprained her left pinkie during bracket play Saturday and played with that finger taped to her ring finger. She had X-rays, which were negative.

Rogers jammed his right thumb in the post-finals victory celebration. He said it wasn’t too bad, but shook hands left-handed with all well-wishers.