Rogers/Dalhausser upset on Day 1 of beach volleyball
08/09 01:01:24 ET

Beijing, China (Sports Network) - Defending world champions Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States were dealt a shocking upset in pool play by Latvians Martins Plavins and Aleksander Samoilovs on the first day of beach volleyball action at the Beijing Olympics.

Plavins and Samoilovs, the 23rd-ranked team out of 24 teams at the Olympics, earned a two sets to none victory, winning, 21-19, and 21-18. The second- seeded American team will try to rebound Monday when they face Patrick Heuscher and Sascha Heyer of Switzerland.

"We have to win the next two matches," said Rogers. "It's not the end of the world, but it's definitely a disappointing loss."

The team of Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh picked up a win for the Americans on the women's side, as they defeated Merel Mooren and Rebekka Kadijk of the Netherlands, winning the first set 21-19 then had trouble closing out the match in the second, but eventually won the deciding set by a 27-25 margin.

In other notable action on the men's side, defending Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Alex Santos of Brazil posted an easy, 21-8, 21-13 victory over Morais Santos Abreu and Emanuel de Jesus Fernandes of Angola.

The top-seeded women's team, Tian Jia and Wang Jie of China, opened pool play with a 21-12, 21-18 decision over Switzerland's Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer.

Sunday's action will be highlighted by the Beijing Games debut of the U.S. women's team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, the gold medalists at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The American duo will take on the Japanese team of Chiaki Kusuhara and Mikia Saiki in pool play.

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Being a Californian, I grew up on beach volleyball, but to make the Olympics, one has to be damn good. Dalhausser is 6'9" and a joy to watch when he's up at the net. The commentators kept pointing out that his sheer height and ability to play the net earned him a nickname: Skinny Beast.
Unfortunately, the Beast didn't intimidate the Latvians.