Kerri Walsh and her teammate Misty May-Treanor have formed the best team in the history of volleyball. The outgoing six foot three champion started her collegiate career
at Stanford University, where she won national titles in 1996 and 1997 - garnering numerous individual awards along the way. Nicknamed "Six Feet of Sunshine" for her
friendly and outgoing disposition, Kerri successfully transitioned to beach volleyball in 2001 when she joined the Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) winning the
FIVB Tour Championship in 2002 with partner Misty.
The unstoppable duo joined the United States Professional Tour - the Association for Volleyball Professionals or AVP - in 2003 and was selected as the AVP Team of the Year
for five straight years from 2003 through 2007. The Walsh/May-Treanor team holds one of the longest and most impressive winning streaks in professional sports
(112 consecutive match victories which broke their previous record of 89). Over the years, Kerri has garnered many individual awards on the sand including AVP Best
Offensive Player in 2003 and league's Most Valuable Player in 2003 and 2004. For three straight seasons, Walsh was chosen as the FIVB's Best Hitter, Best Blocker and
Sports person of the Year in addition to collecting the 2007 Best Offensive and Most Outstanding Player awards.
In 2006, Kerri became the fourth American woman to surpass $1 million in career earnings - and she is one of the most recognizable and heavily sponsored athletes in the
history of women's athletics, appearing in numerous television commercials and print advertising campaigns along the way. In 2008, the unstoppable Walsh / May-Treanor
powerhouse took their second Olympic Gold Medal and became the first team to win back-to-back gold medals in the sport.
Kerri is the founder of the highly successful Chase the Stars Foundation (started in 2004), and she is currently nominated for the prestigious Jefferson Award for Public
Service. In addition to work in advertising and promotion for her sponsors, Kerri has also worked as a correspondent for NBC and Fox Sports Net, and was recently chosen to
be a Contributing Editor for People.com. Kerri has two sons, Joseph and Sundance, with her husband Casey Jennings.
Known as "The Professor" for his ability to use his brain to pick players apart, Todd Rogers and teammate Phil Dalhausser have dominated Men's Volleyball. Rogers demonstrated his skills at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, where he played for the men's indoor team from 1993-1996 earning All-American Honors in 1995 and 1996. After college, Rogers partnered with high school
teammate, Dax Holdren, and began playing on both the domestic AVP Tour and the international FIVB World Tour. Rogers took Rookie of the Year honors in 1997, and the pair earned their first tournament
win in 1998.
In 2000, Rogers and Holdren won their first FIVB tournament in Rosarito, Mexico. During their six years as partners, Rogers and Holdren were moderately successful, with 8 first-place, 7 second-place,
and 4 third-place finishes. In 2002, Rogers split with Holdren and partnered with Sean Scott. The pair also found moderate success, but only made the winner's podium a total of four times on the AVP
Tour, and none internationally.
In 2006 Rogers would take notice of a 6'9" up-and-comer named Phil Dalhausser. Rogers partnered with him for the 2006 season and began coaching Dalhausser on the intricacies of the game. The pair
won eight AVP events and one FIVB event in 2006. Rogers also won the season-ending round-robin tournament, earning the title, "God of the Beach". Despite their success, Rogers and Dalhausser
finished the 2006 AVP season in second place, just six points shy of leaders Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger, despite the finish Rogers would be crowned AVP's Most Valuable Player in 2006.
2007 was one of the most impressive years for Rogers and teammate Dalhausser as they finished the season with more than 800 points over the second place team with 10 tournament wins. The 2007 AVP
Team of the Year also won the FIVB World Championships in Gstaad, Switzerland, the first win in U.S. men's beach volleyball history. 2008 held much of the same for the pair; they would accumulate
eight domestic wins, and three international wins, all in Grand Slam events. In addition Rogers and Dalhausser would qualify as the number one team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On August 22, 2008
they would defeat the Brazilian team to earn the Olympic Gold Medal.
Establishing himself as one of the world's best Men's Volleyball players Rogers earned AVP's Best Defensive player honors 5 consecutive times (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007,2008). Rogers would also snatch
FIVB's Best Defensive Player award in 2006, 2007, and 2008, along with FIVB's Most Inspirational in 2008. Todd Rogers is married to Melissa Masonheimer. They have one daughter, Hannah, and one son,
Nate. Rogers and his family currently reside in Solvang, California.
Phil Dalhausser or "The Thin Beast" and partner Todd Rogers have been Men's Beach Volleyballs dominant force. The fix foot nine giant attended the University of Central Florida, where he was named
"Most Valuable Player" and received the William G. Morgan Award for most outstanding player. He earned a business degree at UCF and played for the club volleyball team. Dalhausser had previously
teamed up with Nick Lucena.
Dalhausser led the 2005-2010 AVP tour in blocks. In 2005 he was sixth in kill percentage. In 2006, Dalhausser teamed up with Todd Rogers. Rogers, an 11 year veteran of professional beach volleyball,
thought he needed someone to help him get to the next level and believed Dalhausser had the potential to become the best player in the world. Rogers plays two roles, both partner and coach to
Dalhausser. Dalhausser went on to be names AVP's Most Improved Player. In 2007 Dalhausser would capture FIVB's Best Hitter Award along with the AVP's Most Valuable Player, the duo won the FIVB World
Championships in Gstaad, Switzerland becoming the first U.S. beach team to win the gold medal at the tournament.
Dalhausser and Rogers began the season claiming the first five AVP titles, winning their first 27 matches. The duo won 11 domestic titles and for the second straight season he was the top-ranked
player while pacing the tour in victories (11) and earnings. He had the most blocks per game (2.12) and also led in hitting percentage (.519) and was third in aces per game (.83).
Internationally, the duo played seven events, winning medals in all of them. They began the season with a pair of bronzes, then in four Grand Slams won silver and three gold's. During the Olympic
qualifying process, they accumulated the highest point total in the world, and entered the Beijing Games on a 21-match FIVB winning streak, one win shy of the record. In their first match, they were
upset by the 23rd-seeded team, but rebounded to win the gold medal. Dalhausser and Rogers were in the semifinals 39 consecutive times on the AVP tour. From 2008-2010, Dalhausser and Rogers won eight
FIVB Grand Slams along with two seconds, one third and one fifth.
During his superb career Dalhausser would also rack up AVP's Best Offensive Player in 2005, 2006, and 2007 as well as, FIVB's Best
Blocker in 2006 and 2007. Dalhausser was born in Baden, Aargau, Switzerland to a German father and Swiss mother. His brother, Mark, lives in Brooklyn, NY. Dalhausser currently resides in Ventura,
California.
Regarded as one of the most animated and electrifying players on the AVP tour Casey Jennings has astonished volleyball fans around the World. The aggressive six foot three champion began his career at
Brigham Young University where he was a member of the 1999 NCAA National Championship Team. After college he would take his talents to the sand where he would team up Matt Fuerbinger, the two would win at
least one AVP tournament each season from 2004-08; with more final appearances than any other team during that time.
Known as the "Martin Scorsese" of the AVP tour he would win the AVP's Best Defensive Player in 2003, as well as AVP's Most Improved Player in 2002, and 2003. The fiery Jennings earned his first win with
partner Fuerbinger in 2004 in Belmar, New Jersey. In 2006 Jennings and Fuerbringer would advanced to the semifinals seven times, winning in Seaside Heights in their only championship match, marking the
fourth straight year the pair had played in the finals in New Jersey. Jennings, the seventh ranked player on tour, was third in digs per game (4.99) and sixth in kills per game (7.39). In 2008 Jennings and
Fuerbringer played in seven semifinals, including one in Manhattan Beach, and in two finals, winning in San Diego. Jennings led the tour in both digs per game (5.57) and kills per game (7.60). In an effort to qualify for the Olympics, Jennings and Fuerbringer played eight FIVB events,
with their best finish of third. They were the third U.S. team in the Olympic qualifying, and were the fourth highest ranked team worldwide.
Jennings began a new partnership with Brad Keenan in 2010, placing ninth in their first two AVP events as well as their first two FIVB tournaments. They advanced to their first FIVB semifinal in the Moscow
Grand Slam. Jennings' partnership with Keenan to open the 2010 season marked his first event with a partner other than Fuerbringer since July 2007, snapping a string of 41 domestic and international team
events played alongside Fuerbringer.
On December 4, 2005, he married Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh in Palm Springs, California, He gave her a ring inscribed with "My Six Feet of Sunshine", a nickname Kerri was given when they first met.
Jennings and Walsh currently live in Redondo Beach, California with their two sons Joseph Michael Jennings and Sundance Thomas Jennings.
An expert in both indoor and beach volleyball, Marcio Sicoli begins his second season with the Pepperdine women's volleyball staff as an assistant coach in 2009.
Sicoli, a native of Brazil, boasts an impressive international resume, as he was an assistant coach for the Brazilian Olympic women's beach volleyball team from 2000-04. One of their duos earned a silver
medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Sicoli has coached various other indoor and beach volleyball teams, including serving as the head coach for women's beach volleyball legend Holly McPeak and as head coach of the AVP women's beach volleyball
team of Tatiana Minello and Semirames Marins during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. In 2007, Sicoli served as head coach for the women's beach team of Minello and Carrie Dodd and as coach of the men's beach team
of Casey Jennings and Matt Fuerbringer.
"We're really excited to have Marcio," said head coach Nina Matthies at the time of Sicoli's hiring. "He brings some great experience and a lot of enthusiasm, energy and some new ideas and we're really
thrilled to have him."
Sicoli had been coaching at the Beverly Hills-based Sport Shack Volleyball Club for the past year with fellow Pepperdine assistant Tim Jensen. Sicoli received the Sport Shack Coach of the Year Award in
2007 as the coach of the 18-2 team. Sicoli also served as the head coach of the Southern California Volleyball Club's South Bay 12-1 indoor team in 2007, and assisted USC men's head coach Bill Ferguson
with the 17-1s.
Sicoli received his bachelor's of physical education degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 2001 and competed for the men's volleyball team as the setter from 1999-2002. He holds a
specialization in sports training (earned in 2002-03) and holds a Brazilian Beach Volleyball Level II coaching credential (earned in 2001).
Sicoli is married and his wife's name is Isabel. Their first child, Antonio, was born in May 2009.
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