Gibb in semis, gets best of Fuerbringer

MANHATTAN BEACH — Costa Mesa resident Jake Gibb knows how important it is to stay in the winner’s bracket.

“It’s big, you know, especially with all the international travel we’re doing right now,” Gibb said. “Any time you can cut out a few games it’s huge.”

Gibb and partner Sean Rosenthal did just that Saturday at the Manhattan Beach Open. While most of the other top-seeded men’s teams in the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ most prestigious event were losing, the No. 2-seeded Gibb and Rosenthal won a pair of matches.

They advance to today’s semifinals against a team to be determined.

Fellow Costa Mesa resident Mike Lambert and partner Stein Metzger, the No. 1-seeded team, are also still alive. Lambert and Metzger lost Saturday morning to No. 8-seeded Dax Holdren and Sean Scott, 21-19, 21-18. But they rebounded for a pair of contender’s bracket wins, 21-19, 21-17 over No. 11-seeded Brent Doble and Matt Olson and then 21-14, 21-5 over No. 17-seeded Adam Jewell and Jose Loiola.

Lambert and Metzger face No. 6-seeded Anthony Medel and Fred Souza today at 8:30 a.m., with a spot in the semifinals — against Holdren and Scott — on the line.

It certainly wasn’t easy for Gibb and Rosenthal. In their first match of the day, they outlasted Estancia High graduate Matt Fuerbringer and partner Casey Jennings, 21-15, 19-21, 15-12. Then, they outlasted Medel and Souza in another three-game match, 21-18, 16-21, 15-11.

“[Rosenthal’s] just been steady, that’s been the biggest thing for our team right now,” Gibb said. “He’s been super-steady.”

Lambert said he was disappointed with his team’s performance Saturday, in the sense that it is the Manhattan Beach Open. Lambert won the prestigious tournament in 2004 with beach volleyball legend Karch Kiraly.

“It’s a bummer,” Lambert said. “It’s Manhattan and you want to play your best here, but luckily it’s double-elimination. We did start to play better and better as they day went on. Our last match was probably our best match.”

He said Medel and Souza both have big serves, which will provide a challenge in this morning’s match.

“They’re a good team,” Lambert said. “They’ve been playing well and they’ve both got great serves. We’ll have to pass well, that’ll be the key. They’re going to want to get their points off serving tough, and we’re going to want to pass well so we can side out.”

Fuerbringer, meanwhile, is playing in his third tournament back together with old teammate Casey Jennings. After the tough loss to Gibb and Rosenthal, they suffered another against No. 13-seeded Aaron Wachtfogel and Scott Wong, 21-13, 18-21, 15-13.

The pairing finished tied for ninth, splitting $3,600.

Fuerbringer said in the morning match against Gibb and Rosenthal, Fuerbringer and Jennings were up, 5-3, in the third game before Gibb and Rosenthal rattled off seven straight points.

Similarly against Wachtfogel and Wong, they had a big second-game win. But Fuerbringer and Jennings were unable to capitalize, falling behind, 10-7, in the third game.

They rallied to tie the score at 12-12, but the match would eventually end on a kill by Wong.

“Our first run together, we started off in four finals in five events,” Fuerbringer said of his partnership with Jennings. Fuerbringer, the 2003 AVP Rookie of the Year, made four event finals that year with Jennings.

“Now, we’re starting off with sevenths and ninths,” Fuerbringer said. “It’s a test. I don’t know exactly what’s happening; it’s weird. I know that we’re a great team, so we’re just going to keep pushing and working hard. That’s all you can do.”

He said inconsistency continues to be the cause of his frustration.

“Some matches we’re playing at a higher level than we’ve ever played,” Fuerbringer said. “And, some matches we’re just not. I just didn’t think we made plays that a team of our stature should make. With the experience on our side, we need to take advantage of that.

“We need to be a better team for longer periods of time, not just in spurts.”

Today, Gibb and Lambert will see who can be the better team for a longer period of time.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.