Rogers, Brunner spring surprise in Cayman Islands 

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, April 27, 2014 - USA-B's Todd Rogers and Theodore Brunner created somewhat of a surprise in the men's final, beating countrymen and USA-A's William Montgomery and Stafford Slick in straight sets to serve off the 2014 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit season before a large vociferous crowd at Seven Miles Beach.

Having breezed their way through round-robin Pool C play with a lone loss against two-time defending champions of Cayman Islands, Puerto Ricans, Roberto Rodriguez and Erik Haddock, Rogers, the gold medal winner of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing along with Phil Dalhausser, combined with Brunner to whip Montgomery and Slick 21-12, 21-18.

It was great satisfaction second time around for Rogers after he and Ryan Doherty were beaten in last year's final by the Rodriguez/Haddock tandem.

Commenting on the win, a relieved Rogers said he was happy to go all the way to the gold medal this time around.

He said, "It’s nice to be at the top of the medal podium looking down this year after coming up short last time around. The credit to my partner though because he played fantastic.

"His blocking and passing was excellent and it made my job much easier against a good team.

Brunner first credited the crowd for providing a great ambience saying, "It's my first time coming to Cayman Islands and the response we got throughout the entire competition was awesome.

Brunner also credited his outing to the Dolphin Discovery on Thursday as providing some motivation to him and his partner.

"When we went to the tour with the Dolphins it was a great experience and got us in a very happy mood and that just transpired into our game over the three days.

As for his performance Brunner said, "My jump serve was not working too good for the first two days, but luckily today it came through for me and my partner. It helped lift our confidence and in the end we came out victorious.

In the semifinals, Rogers and Brunner overwhelmed Andrew Hinchey/Ryan Vanderbug (Canada-B) with relative ease 21-14, 21-13 while Montgomery and Slick saved three match points against Rodriguez and Haddock before prevailing 13-21, 23-21, 16-14.

Rodriguez and Haddock had better fortune in the bronze medal contest as they won 21-14, 21-12 for their second win in three days over Hinchey and Vanderbug.
 

Sunday Men Results:

Semifinals: USA-A d PUR 13-21, 23-21, 16-14; USA-B d CAN-B 21-4, 21-13; Bronze Medal Match: PUR d CAN-B 21-14, 21-12; Gold Medal Match: USA-B d USA-A 21-12, 21-18.