Olympians from Brazil and USA to battle for gold Medal Sunday at FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam

Long Beach, Calif., USA, August 27, 2016 — You couldn’t blame USA Olympians Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena if they took the court, looked across the net and said “Who is this guy?” It’s not often an FIVB Grand Slam semifinal has an unknown quantity, but that’s what Dalhausser and Lucena faced in the semifinals of the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam on Saturday.The familiar face was Italian Olympian Alex Ranghieri but there was his partner, 23-year-old Marco Caminati. And after it appeared the top-seeded Americans were on their way to Sunday’s gold-medal match, the sand got a little rocky. Still, Dalhausser and Lucena prevailed for a 21-15, 17-21, 15-6 victory that was highlighted by an 11-0 run in the third set.The Americans will face third-seeded Olympians Pedro Solberg and Evandro Goncalves in Sunday’s final. Pedro/Evandro reached the gold medal match with a 14-21, 21-14, 15-11 victory over second-seeded Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins, which followed the Brazilians’ 21-17, 21-15 quarterfinal win over Mexico’s Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros.The 2016 FIVB World Tour regular season is concluding in the United States with the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball being held through Sunday on a colorful purpose-built venue at Alamitos Beach adjacent to Marina Green Park on East Shoreline Drive. The medal bronze and gold medal matches will be played on Sunday and the awarding ceremonies for each gender will be held after the gold medal match for each gender.ASICS WSOVBWhile the cornerstone of the beach volleyball celebration is the $800,000 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam (regular season finale of the 2016 FIVB World Tour), the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball encompasses a wide variety of additional elements . Also part of the beach festival has been live entertainment, a special celebrity center court match, an expansive vendor’s village, multiple open, junior and youth beach volleyball tournaments and the very special legends of the game tribute dinner all at the event venue. For complete details regarding the entire ASICS WSOBV lineup of events and activities including premium seating tickets, visit the event website at www.wsobv.com.FIVB LONG BEACH GRAND SLAM PURSE/POINTSThe gold medal teams at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will split $57,000 and 800 points, the silver $43,000 and 720 points, the bronze $32,000 and 640 points and fourth place $24,000 and 560 points.At least Dalhausser and Lucena will be facing a more familiar opponent after trying to figure out their semifinal opponent on the fly.“Alex is one of most physical forces out here, he’s a big dude up at the net,” Dalhausser said. “With him in your face and trying to sideout in the wind, it’s tough. I’ve …

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