Volleyball
Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal Go Separate Ways
The Americans are ending their beach volleyball partnership. Read quotes from both players.
Phil Dalhausser at the net
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Beach volleyball players Phil DalhausserandSean Rosenthalare going their own ways after a two-and-a-half-year partnership. Dalhausser and Rosenthal confirmed the news in separate interviews with RedBull.com on Monday.
Dalhausser and Rosenthal, both 35, had been partners since the beginning of 2013. They are two of the more decorated American beach volleyball players of their era, and enjoyed plenty of success as partners.
Rosenthal believes Dalhausser's previous oblique injury was a big factor in the split.
"I think if he doesn’t have that oblique injury, we’re out playing and we’re back to where we’ve been the last two years, as the No. 1 team in the world," Rosenthal said in an exclusive interview.
Dalhausser will return to playing with Nick Lucena, his college friend and former partner dating to 2003. Rosenthal said he'll likely play on the right side with new partner Theo Brunner. Lucena and Brunner previously teamed up together.
Sean Rosenthal stretches out for a dig
© Philipp Schuster/Red Bull Content Pool
Rosenthal said, "Right now, we need to come out of the gates playing well and I think a side switch would put us a couple steps back. We need to keep making steps forward."
Rosenthal pointed to injuries as a key reason the pair went through some struggles.
"When we weren’t injured, we were the best team in the world," he told RedBull.com. "We’ve had to deal with some injuries, and I don’t think either of us have had to do that our whole career, so that put a little more pressure on us: 'Why aren’t they winning all the time? Why aren’t they the best team in the world?' When we’re healthy, we were.
When we weren’t injured, we were the best team in the world.
"So I think injuries held us back a little bit from being what most people thought we could be, and maybe even what we thought we could be."
Dalhausser stands 6-foot-9 and is a serving specialist who also uses his height as one of the world's best blockers. He's reached the pinnacle of the sport, and despite battling injuries in recent years, remains an intimidating net presence.
Dalhausser said, "When we first got together, everyone was saying we were going to win every event — which didn’t happen. But we did win the most events on the world tour in 2013 and 2014. We were really inconsistent. We had some really bad finishes, and we had some good finishes."
Sean Rosenthal by night
© Josh Glazebrook / Red Bull Content Pool
Rosenthal is a self-taught star who made his debut on the tour at age 16. Known for his defensive prowess and court coverage, he is the focal point of "Rosie's Raiders," a group of fans and friends following Rosenthal and heckling his opponents.
"To all the 'Rosie’s Raiders,' we’ve got a new team, we’re moving forward and we’ll have fun with it," Rosenthal said. "Those guys have all been my friends through high school and through all my years playing. It doesn’t matter who I’m playing with; they’re supporting me and my new partner."
Dalhausser told RedBull.com, "Nick plays a real similar game as my old partner Todd (Rogers). He’s the same type of player, same style. So I don't think we'll have a problem."
Learn more about the career achievements of Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal.
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