Top team rallies after loss

With an hour and 11 minutes between matches, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser didn’t have time to sulk.

The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals just kicked its second tour stop, the Crocs Tour Riverside Open, into high gear. And the top-seeded duo had already fallen in the third round of the double-elimination event Saturday to eighth-seeded John Mayer and Jeff Nygaard, 21-16, 21-19.

After signing autographs for 15 minutes, Rogers and Dalhausser had less than an hour to prepare for the loser’s bracket match against third-seeded Matt Fuerbringer and Casey Jennings. They fell early to 14th-seeded Anthony Medel and Hans Stolfus.

The quick turnaround meant a short warmup, but that’s what Rogers wanted.

“In the loser’s bracket, you have so many games and you need to conserve as much energy as you can,” said Rogers, who won the gold medal with Dalhausser in the 2008 Olympics.

That approach helped Rogers and Dalhausser win two straight matches. Their 21-19, 21-17 victory against fourth-seeded Brad Keenan and Nick Lucena helped them advance to a quarterfinal matchup at 9:30 a.m. today against Matt Olson and Kevin Wong the loser’s bracket. A win would propel them into the semifinals.

Rogers and Dalhausser last lost before the fourth round in the Manhattan Beach Open in 2007, which they won. The early upset seemed to confirm the AVP’s thinking that the field remains open while top teams are pacing themselves for a grinding season.

“We’re not trying to peak right now,” Dalhausser said. “It’s way too early.”

Jen Kessy echoed similar comments after she and April Ross overcame a shaky start in the quarterfinal as a second-seeded team against 10th-seeded Lauren Fendrick and Ashley Ivy.

After winning the first game, 23-21, Kessy and Ross cruised to a 20-12 finish in the second game and will appear in a semifinal.

“The top seeds all finished first through four last weekend,” Kessy said in reference to the season opener in Panama City, Fla., that also included three upsets. “Later in the year, we usually start to steamroll in the first couple of rounds.”

The Riverside stop also went according to script. Fifth-seeded John Hyden and Sean Scott ended Mayer’s and Nygaard’s Cinderella run en route to the semifinals. Top-seeded Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh advanced to the women’s semifinal after winning against fourth-seeded Angie Akers and Tyra Turner. Second-seeded Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal will appear in the men’s semifinal after unseating sixth-seeded Olson and Wong, 21-14, 17-21, 15-12.

Despite the outcomes, Dalhausser noted “all it takes is one bad match by a top team and a good match by a middle-of-the-pack team.”

“I don’t know if that was Todd and Phil’s best match, but I don’t care,” Mayer said. “I’ve played them so many times and got absolutely crushed by them.”

Dalhausser and Rogers quickly returned to form, even through extra matches and limited warm-ups.

“There is a little bit of a good feeling about it,” Rogers said. “I’d always rather go through the winners.”

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mark.medina@latimes.com