American favorites ease into last 16 after another night match victory

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Nick (left) and Phil are one victory away from the quarterfinals in their home tournament

For the second successive evening American fans were treated to a masterclass in beach volleyball as Florida’s Nick Lucena and Phil Dalhausser made it two wins out of two to advance to the last 16 of the Fort Lauderdale Major.

The duo followed up Wednesday’s win over Norway with another straight sets win, this time over North American rivals Ben Saxton and Grant O’Gorman of Canada.

“I thought it went well,” said Dalhausser who was at his best at the net again, executing a perfect 10 blocks against the Canadians to shoot to the top of the blockers’ leaderboard. “We served tough and executed our game plan perfectly. We put them in the spots they didn’t like and it worked in our favor.

Nick and Phil were again involved in the final match of the day and Dalhausser was happy that the team were able to send the fans home happy.

“There’s pros and cons to playing so late – we have a lot of nervous energy waiting all day,” said the 2008 Olympic champ. “But it’s a lot cooler temperature wise, the atmosphere is great and the fans all come out to watch us which is great.”

All was not lost for Saxton and O’Gorman despite the defeat, as their victory on Wednesday secured them a berth in the first elimination stage.

The Canadians will play another American team in the round of 24, John Hyden and Theo Brunner.

Dalhausser and Lucena will meet then winner of the pick of the first round knockout games, Liamin/Krasilnikov of Russia and Guto/Vitor Felipe. Find the full elimination draw right here.

Full round of 24 draw:

Liamin/Krasilnikov (RUS) v Guto/Vitor Felipe (BRA)
Brouwer/Meeuween (NED) v Ontiveros/Virgen (MEX)
Smedins/Samoilovs (LAT) v Koekelkoren/van Walle (BEL)
Plavins/Tocs (LAT) v Beeler/Krattiger (SUI)
Doppler/Horst (AUT) v Pedlow/Schachter (CAN)
Evandro/Andre (BRA) v Ranghieri/Caminati (ITA)
Sorum/Mol (NOR) v Fijalek/Bryl (POL)
O’Gorman/Saxton (CAN) v Hyden/Brunner (USA)

You’ll be able to watch every game live on BeachStream so don’t forget to sign-up and upgrade your account now!