Difficult day for area men

HERMOSA BEACH — Estancia High product Matt Fuerbringer, along with Costa Mesa residents Mike Lambert and Jake Gibb, all made it to the final day Sunday at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Hermosa Beach Open.

None of the beach volleyball players, however, could make it to the final itself.

Lambert came the closest. He and partner Stein Metzger, the No. 3 seed, lost a close match to No. 4-seeded Matt Olson and Jason Ring, 21-18, 14-21, 15-13. Lambert and Metzger finished tied for third and split $9,500.

Gibb and partner Sean Rosenthal, who had finished second in each of the first four AVP events of 2007 to tie a tour record, couldn’t get to that point this time. The No. 2 seed, Gibb and Rosenthal lost to Lambert and Metzger, 21-19, 21-16, in a fourth-round match of the championship bracket.

Gibb and Rosenthal then lost to No. 5-seeded Dax Holdren and Jeff Nygaard, 24-22, 23-21, to finish tied for fifth and split $6,000.

Fuerbringer, meanwhile, thinks his beach volleyball partnership with Sean Scott, in its first year, is on its way up.

Fuerbringer and Scott, the No. 8 seed, lost a contender’s bracket match Sunday morning to Holdren and Nygaard, 24-22, 23-21, to finish tied for seventh and split $4,600.

Fuerbringer, who had called his 0-2 showing at this year’s Huntington Beach Open a low point in his professional career, was just 6-8 this season with Scott heading into Hermosa Beach. But the team won three matches at Hermosa.

“We’re playing well,” said Fuerbringer, the 2003 AVP Rookie of the Year. “There was a temptation for us to go other ways [with our partnership], but we’re on the right track. I still think we’re going to be a great team.”

Fuerbringer said he had pulled his groin during the team’s last match Saturday, a 24-22, 23-21 win over No. 20-seeded Dain Blanton and Jason Lee.

“Today, it was tough for me to play, but my partner Sean was playing amazing,” he said. “But the other teams played well, and that’s what happens.”

As a first-year partnership, Fuerbringer added that he and Scott are still ironing some things out.

“It’s part that, and it’s part some bad breaks.” Fuerbringer said. “When things are going bad, it seems like everything is bad. But we’re feeling it out, and figuring it out. It’s about our roles. Who’s the motivator, the guy who brings the fire, and who’s the guy who stays quiet? With time, we’ll have chemistry.”

All three teams now prepare for the AVP Louisville Open that begins Thursday.

In the Hermosa Beach final, No. 1-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers beat Olson and Ring, 21-17, 21-12. It was the duo’s fourth win in five tour events this season, and sixth in the last seven.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at [email protected].