Ross helps ruin return of ‘Mom Team’ for now

HERMOSA BEACH — Kerri Walsh and Rachel Wacholder received plenty of fanfare, as the new mothers made their return to the sand Friday at the Hermosa Beach Open.

But April Ross, a former Newport Harbor High standout, and Jen Kessy also possessed some notoriety of their own. Ross and Kessy won the world championship in France on the Federation Internationale de Volleyball World Tour July 26. The week after, Ross became engaged to Brad Keenan, also a Assn. of Vollyeball Professionals player.

At the Hermosa Beach Open, Ross helped ruin the return of Walsh and Wacholder, at least for now.

Ross and Kessy knocked Walsh and Walcholder into the contender’s bracket after outlasting them in the championship bracket quarterfinals.

Ross and Kessy, the No. 2-seeded duo, defeated the No. 3 seeds, 21-17, 17-21, 15-13. Ross and Kessy will play in the semifinals at 10:30 a.m. The final is set for 1:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on NBC. The semifinals can be seen on Universal Sports.

Ross and Kessy opened with a 21-11, 21-19 win against Gabriela Roney and Lenka Urbanova. They then beat Saralyn Smith and Beth Van Fleet, 21-4, 21-16, and took out Priscilla Lim and Tatiana Minello, 21-15, 21-14.

Ashley Groothuis, a Costa Mesa resident, and Courtney Guerra lost two straight and were eliminated from the tournament. Lima and Minello beat Groothuis and Guerra, 21-11, 21-12, and Keao Burdine and Jenelle Koester finished them off, 18-21, 21-16, 15-12.

For the men, three of the four matches in today’s third round features locals.

Corona del Mar resident Ty Loomis and Casey Patterson, the No. 8 seeded duo, will face the top-seeded team of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers today at 9 a.m. The No. 3 seeded-team of Costa Mesa resident Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal of Corona del Mar will play against Keenan and Nick Lucena at 11:30 a.m., when former Estancia High standout Matt Fuerbringer and Casey Jennings face John Hyden and Sean Scott.

Loomis and Patterson opened with a 21-19, 21-19 win against Curtis Jackson and Dave McKienzie. They also beat Ryan Mariano and Ed Ratledge, 21-16, 2-16.

Gibb and Rosenthal won, 21-10, 21-16, against Theodore Brunner and Aaron Mansfield to start things off. They then beat Joey Dykstra and Albert Hannemann, 20-22, 21-11.

Fuerbringer and Jennings beat Mike Bruning and Dana Camacho, 21-11, 21-13, in the first round and defeated Costa Mesa resident Hans Stolfus and Anthony Medel, 21-15, 22-20.

Stolfus and Medel had opened with a 21-15, 22-20 win against Evan Engle and Bryan Stewart in the first round, before losing and then beating Billy Allen and Braidy Halverson, 21-19, 21-13, to stay alive in the contender’s bracket.

Newport Beach resident Jonathan Acosta and Paul Baxter also remain alive after winning in the second round of the contender’s bracket. They beat Jesse Rambis and Mark Williams, 21-19, 21-17. They also won in the first round, 22-20, 24-22, against Duncan Budinger and Mark Van Zwieten.

Ty Tramblie of Newport Beach and former UC Irvine player Russ Marchewka were eliminated Friday. They beat Pedro Brazao and Matt Prosser, 22-19, 24-22, in the first round, but lost in the second round to Keenan and Lucena, 17-21, 21-14, 15-11, and again in the contender’s bracket second round, 21-16, 21-14, to Mike Morrison and Aaron Wachtfogel.

The men’s semifinals will be broadcast live Sunday on Universal Sports at 10:30 a.m., while the men’s final will be broadcast live on NBC Sports at 1:30 p.m.