LONG BEACH OPEN:Champs own Gibb, ‘Rosie’ once again

LONG BEACH — Eight weeks without a toast of Barefoot Bubbly definitely qualifies as a drought in the world of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, one of the top teams on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour.

But a three-game win Sunday finally quenched the spell, as the 6-foot-9 Dalhausser and Rogers rolled to a 21- 16, 19-21, 15-9 victory over Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal. Dalhausser and Rogers, who won four out of the first five AVP tournaments this season, hadn’t captured a win since playing in Louisville, Ky. May 27. Championship teams on the AVP tour celebrate a tournament win with a ceremonial toast of Barefoot’s sparkling chardonnay.

“It’s nice to be back, that’s for sure,” Rogers said.

The champions walked away with the $28,000 first prize while Gibb, who lives in Costa Mesa, and Rosenthal finished second to split $21,000.

It’s safe to say, in 2007, Rogers and Dalhuasser have had Gibb-Rosenthal duo’s number in title matches. This year on the AVP tour, Rogers and Dalhausser are 5-0 in finals matches against Gibb and Rosenthal, the tandem that crested in the second game Sunday, but fell flat in the third to lose 15-9, despite Gibb’s spirited rally early in the game.

Matched against Dalhausser at the net, Gibb blocked two straight attempts from Dalhausser, with the third finally falling for the point.

“I needed, I guess, six more of those,” Gibb said. “But it was a big point and I was just trying to fire us up.”

Dalhausser ultimately had the last word, however, finishing the match with three straight blocks for three points.

After trailing, 8-4, in the first game, Gibb and Rosenthal tied it at 10-10, but Dalhausser and Rogers pulled ahead in a 9-4 run to win, 21-16.

But, Gibb and Rosenthal, who took the Atlanta title June 7, didn’t fade away quietly into the afternoon. Rosenthal had three straight aces, and put down the final kill after a long rally to win the second game, 21-19. A crowd that had a few empty pockets roared all the same as David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” blared out of the stadium speakers.

Rogers scowled, throwing up a fistful of sand as he walked off the court.

“I was struggling when Rosie aced me down the line three times,” Dalhausser said. “I didn’t think he would keep hitting it, but he just kept doing it.”

Top-seeded Gibb and Rosenthal defeated Mike Lambert, also of Costa Mesa, and Stein Metzger in a semifinal Sunday morning.

“Other teams, particularly Stein and Lambo, have really elevated their game to the next level,” Rogers said. “They started off really slow, but they’re playing at the level they can, and they can beat anybody in the world. Secondly, we lost a little fire, particularly toward the ends of games, and we were losing a lot of really tight ones.”

Both teams were in a rush to leave Marina Grove Park for Gstaad, Switzerland, where they are competing in the Fédération de Volleyball World Championship, which begins Tuesday.

The FIVB championship is an Olympic qualifying event, and Rogers was especially motivated to win a spot on the U.S. team after just missing the 2004 Athens games with his former partner, Sean Scott.

The AVP awarded $280,000 in prize money here; in the Swiss Alps, the pot nearly doubles to $500,000.

While an AVP event hadn’t been held in Long Beach since 1985, when the association was still all male, the last women’s tournament was played held here in 2000, hosted by the Beach Volleyball Assn., which was eventually swallowed by the AVP.

Rogers said he never doubted Dalhausser, who didn’t start playing volleyball until his senior year of high school, or started to think that the team had lost its edge.

“Everyone else raised their play,” Rogers said. “Stein and Lambo beat us in the last two finals ‘cause they were hungrier. They wanted that win because they hadn’t won [since Huntington Beach]. Just after reviewing it in my head, we just needed that extra hunger, that extra fire. And, we had it today.”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.