B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone:  719-228-6800 
BJ.Evans@usav.org  

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 30, 2009) – Whether it’s gold or silver, USA Volleyball beach player Casey Jennings will have a nice gift to bring home to wife Kerri Walsh and their new son Joseph Michael.

After falling to the consolation bracket on Friday, Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and partner Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) won twice on Saturday, including a semifinal victory over U.S. compatriots Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), to advance to the gold medal match at the US$190,000 Myslowice Open in Poland, part of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Fuerbringer and Jennings, ranked 12th, will play a rematch against top-seeded Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Harley Marques in Sunday’s final. Alison and Harley sent the U.S. team to the consolation bracket with a 2-1 (21-17, 20-22, 15-13) win in 78 minutes of Friday.

Fuerbringer and Jennings rebounded to defeat seventh-seeded David Klemperer and Eric Koreng of Germany, 2-0 (23-21, 21-16) in 44 minutes to advance to their second SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-final after winning the bronze medal at the end of May in 2008 at Zagreb, Croatia.

Playing 15th-seeded Gibb and Rosenthal for the fifth-time internationally, Fuerbringer and Jennings defeated their U.S. rivals for the fourth-straight time on the FIVB Tour with a 2-1 (21-15, 14-21, 15-8) semifinal victory in 56 minutes.

While Jennings will be playing in his first international final, his wife, Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.), has a 38-10 FIVB gold medal record that included two Olympic and three SWATCH FIVB World championship titles with Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.).  Prior to arriving for this week’s Myslowice Open, Jennings was with his wife as she delivered the couple’s first child on May 22 in Los Angeles.

Gibb and Rosenthal will play in the bronze medal match against Germany’s third-seeded Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann, whom the U.S. duo defeated in the fourth round, 2-1 (13-21, 24-11, 15-9) in 60 minutes.