AVP duo should feel at home in Hermosa
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Todd Rogers planted a vegetable garden at his Solvang home in March, but has barely gotten a chance to tend to it.
When he and beach volleyball partner Phil Dalhausser returned to California to seek their fifth straight title at the Hermosa Beach Open, which begins Friday, Rogers had some work to do.
“Yesterday I worked in the garden for two hours, planted some watermelons, lettuce, cucumbers,” Rogers said Wednesday. “Today I’m pulling out some old stuff and planting some more cucumbers. I kind of use that as a time away from volleyball.”
Time away is hard to find for Rogers and Dalhausser, who have been on the road constantly since the American and international volleyball seasons started in mid-April. So far this year they have traveled back and forth — four states and seven countries — often without a break.
Rogers, 36, and Dalhausser, 30, teamed up for eight AVP titles in 2006 and followed that with complete dominance of their sport, winning the 2007 world championship and the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008.
The duo has already won four of five AVP tournaments and five of eight World Tour events in the 2010 season, including a gold medal at a Grand Slam event in Gstaad, Switzerland, that ended Sunday.
Dalhausser, a 6-foot-10 offensive complement to 6-2 defender Rogers, exhibits the attitude that the two need for such success. “Any team should expect to win. Otherwise, why play in sports?” Dalhausser said.
Of course, Dalhausser also enjoys a little time off — and has his own piece of nature to cultivate at his house in Santa Barbara.
“If I have a couple hours to spend with nothing going on, I’ll probably play some video games and work on my saltwater tank,” he said. For him, “It’s more about the coral than the fish.”
The Hermosa Beach tournament offers more than just a familiar setting. It also presents Rogers and Dalhausser the chance to become the second team in professional beach history to win five straight titles at the same location. The last players to do so were Mike Bright and Mike O’Hara, who won at Manhattan Beach from 1960-64.
“I had no idea we’d won the last four. It would be pretty cool to win the fifth in a row,” Rogers said. “I place significant value on Hermosa Beach because it’s Hermosa Beach…. It’s one of the biggest, if not the biggest, ones on tour.”
Though Hermosa Beach is several hours from the teammates’ houses, it is practically in their backyards compared to other playing spots.
“Whenever you can drive to a tournament, rather than hop on a plane, it feels like home,” Rogers said.
The pair will remain in-state for the Long Beach Open, on July 23-25, and then will fly to Austria for a tournament that begins July 26. With each competition only days removed from the one before, California is ultimately just a stop on the road.
“It’s just another tournament, basically,” Dalhausser said. “It’s just a lot better because it’s so much closer to home and I can sleep in my own bed.”
