Todd Rogers, Phil Dalhausser appear to be back in top form

Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser are refreshed, and that could mean that the rest of the men’s teams on the AVP Nivea Tour are in for a long season.

Coming off what they consider a down year last season, the tour’s dominant men’s team had a restful off-season and appears to be heading back to the level they reached in winning 15 tournaments — including the Beijing Olympics — in 2008.

On Saturday, Rogers and Dalhausser, the top seeded-team, advanced to the final four of the Huntington Beach Open by winning two matches, which shouldn’t be a surprise because they haven’t lost a match on the AVP Tour this season.

In fact, before Saturday, when they lost a game in each of their matches, they hadn’t lost a game on tour.

Still, Rogers said, it would be difficult to live up to the 2008 season.

“In ’08 we were pretty freaking good,� he said. “That would be hard to top. We were primed and peaked. It was like a perfect storm.�

But this year is better than last, Rogers acknowledged. In 2009, the duo was going through what amounted to an Olympic hangover. They had little free time between the ’08 and ’09 seasons, and even though they won 10 times worldwide, they battled to get through it.

“The difference between this year and last year is that this year we’re having a lot more fun,� Rogers said.

Which isn’t much fun for their opponents.

Since teaming together in 2006, Rogers and Dalhausser have won 38 of the 61 AVP tournaments they have entered — a staggering 62%. Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal, also 2008 Olympians, are second with seven AVP victories during that stretch but are 10-36 against Rogers and Dalhausser.

Sean Scott and John Hyden, seeded second in Huntington Beach, have had some semblance of success against Rogers and Dalhausser, posting a 5-8 record against the Olympic champions, but even they would rather not have to face them until they have to.

“You know going into a tournament that if you are going to win, you’re probably going to have to face them,� Scott said. “But if you can wait till the final, that’s what you want. Everyone out here wants to avoid them.�

The teams are on a crash course for the final Sunday at 1 p.m. Rogers and Dalhausser play eighth-seeded Kevin Wong and Casey Patterson in one semifinal, while Scott and Hyden face fourth-seeded Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal in the other.

In the women’s semifinals, top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh will play sixth-seeded Angie Akers and Tyra Turner, while second-seeded April Ross and Jennifer Kessy will play third-seeded Elaine Youngs and Rachel Scott. The winners meet at 11 a.m. for the title.

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