Defending Olympic champions Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser were knocked out in Round of 16 play by an Italian pair called “The young Todd and Phil.”
23-year-old Paolo Nicolai and 21-year-old Daniele Lupo outplayed a tired and injured American team. Dalhausser has had knee and ankle issues all season, and Rogers had, along with a heavily taped knee, pulled his right hamstring in the previous match.
The injuries, plus having played the night before, added up to hinder the U.S. team just enough for the Italian team to triumph.
Not that the Italian duo did not thoroughly earn the win. The made far fewer errors and outpowered the Americans. Paolo Nicolai blasted every spike through Dalhausser’s block in the first set, and through the first quarter of the second. The 6’8″ Italian scored 14 kills, highest of the match, while his 6’4″ partner had ten kills and ten digs.
Dalhausser had ten kills and only one block; he also hit four service errors. Rogers had 11 kills and 13 digs—not bad numbers, but if the kills and the digs don’t coincide—and too often they didn’t—then the stats rise but the score doesn’t.
The Italians made some great plays and fewer errors; Dalhausser made too many errors, and Rogers wasn’t at his best. Add it up, and it equals Italy defeating the American champs in straight sets.
The 38-year-old player-coach had already announced his retirement after the games. Dalhausser will presumably seek a new partner.
When asked about how it felt to go out on a loss, Rogers told NBC Sports, “It’s sad that it has to end this way. I would have liked to have gold. But as I said earlier, I did accomplish all my goals and the reality is that the Olympics are important to me from a sporting perspective, but as I told you in Beijing, it doesn’t compare to the wife and the kids and spending time with them.
“It’s all relative. You put it in perspective that way and win’s fantastic and a loss sucks but either way it’s secondary to what’s important.”
When asked about his injuries (Roger could be seen almost limping after one leap) Rogers replied, “I don’t think they were any issue. It’s been a troubling year this year with all of our injuries but that didn’t have anything to do with our loss out there.
“Those guys are a good team—they could very well wind up with a medal. I wish them all the best; they’re great guys. I am not going to take anything away from them—that’s a great team. They deserved the win.”
Phil Dalhausser said before the match that h head felt nervous for the first time in his career. After the match he said that wasn’t an issue either. “Once I started running around the sand the nerves went away. We were just basically outplayed today. They’re are a great young team—everyone calls them “the young Todd and Phil.” They basically beat at us at our own game today.”
