Aug. 19, 2008

Story courtesy of NBCOlympics.com

BEIJING, China - The U.S. men's beach volleyball team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser are guaranteed a medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. The duo defeated Georgia's Jorge Terceiro and Renato Gomes 21-11, 21-13 Wednesday to advance to Friday's gold-medal match, where the 2007 world champions will face Brazil's Fabio Magalhaes and Marcio Araujo.

Terceiro and Gomes, who were born in Brazil and later became Georgia citizens, trailed the Americans early. The U.S. duo got off to a quick 10-2 start before clinching the first set 21-11.

Dalhausser and Rogers controlled the second set from the start, taking a 6-2 advantage. They extended their lead to 10 before closing out the set 21-13.

The 6-foot-9 Dalhausser recorded seven blocks in the match.

The Brazilians defeated their compatriots -- and the 2004 Olympic champions -- Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos 22-20, 21-18 in Wednesday's second semifinal.

-- UCSBGauchos.com --