I'm stoked that you are back in the action and reading my new blog! Let's quickly bring you into my life and get into my story...

Mood: Proud

Music: Reggae

The Setting: Leaving my house in wonderful Corona del Mar and heading to John Wayne Airport

Date and Time: September 11th, 2008 around 8am'ish

Destination: San Francisco, CA

Purpose: Since my partner Larry Witt and I did not qualify for the San Francisco event, we are obviously not playing in this tournament. Instead, I am here fulfilling my sponsorship obligations for Jose Cuervo by doing some appearances and promos in the downtown San Fran area.

The majority of time I fly anywhere, I fly out of John Wayne Airport in Orange County (which is the greatest airport in the world). I drive to my dad's (Mike Loomis aka "The Mayor") place that is a stone's throw away from the airport, I pick him up at his place, drive to the airport, get dropped off, then he always picks me up from the airport when I return. My pops is a stud!

As I was entering John Wayne Airport around 8 a.m., I took the fork in the road towards the Departures and noticed that there wasn't a soul traveling today. I was shocked, as usually John Wayne Airport is a busy place in the morning, as a lot of successful business people and celebrities have important hands to shake and baby's foreheads to kiss, in hope of closing that next million-dollar deal, booking a reality show or their next movie role.

The airport was absolutely empty! Huh...why was it like this? Ohhh...I quickly remembered that it was September 11th, which happened to be the seven-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Are Americans really scared to travel on this day? Still? Wow...that is really shocking to me! It didn't bother me, as I was running a little late for my flight anyways and didn't have to wait in ANY lines at all!

It was now time to board my flight on United Airlines, in which I recently earned Premier status...stoked! I now get the privilege of boarding my flights first, I usually get the seat of my choice (exit row window), and I frequently get upgraded!

As I board the little United Express puddle jumper plane, I had to duck my head by a half a foot when entering, as these planes are built for super small people, the type of people which you can pay a $1 to see behind the doors at your local carnival.

I say hello, smile and give the cute flight attendant a "high five" as I enter, walked through the six first class seat and noticed that all of the seats have pillows and blankets, in which I know my "economy seat" will not have. I glance at the first class overhead bins and notice one lonely pillow sitting there all by itself! I move quickly in my attempt to snag the pillow! Booyah...I did it...I grabbed the last pillow! If there is one thing that I will be greedy with on airplanes now, is my pillow snagging from first class. It is sad that all of our airlines in the United States have sacrificed all of their simple luxuries (meals, pillows, TV and etc), but everyone is still suffering from the rising prices of fuel.

I can now enjoy my window seat to the fullest with my paper thin pillow that I have to fold four times just to make a little fluff to cushion my head. Also, since it was 9-11, my flight was empty and there was not a passenger sitting next to me. That means that I can turn my long legs sideways and stretch them out. Beeeeeuatiful! Before the plane even took off, I was in a dead sleep and out cold for an hour and a half, until I felt the plane bounce on the runway a few times before we landed.

For the past few years I have flown on 9-11 and have had the most pleasant traveling experiences of my life. Thinking about it more, 9-11 is probably the safest day in the year to travel.

Once I arrived at the San Francisco Airport, I grabbed my bags, asked for directions to the BART Train and headed to my hotel. As soon as I got to my hotel, I checked in my room, I kicked my feet up on the bed, and turned on the TV (a standard male procedure...actually that is rule 3.25 in the book of Man Law). As I was scanning the channels, I ran into MSNBC. MSNBC was paying tribute to 9-11 by showing the actual newscast as it happened on that tragic day.

I started watching the program at the perfect time, which was right after the first plane flew into the 1st tower. I remember this moment like it happened yesterday. My college roommate Jeremy Koop came running into my room, screaming that the World Trade Center has been attacked. I had no idea what he was talking about until I assumed my position on the couch and watched replay after replay of the plane crashing into the first Twin Tower. I couldn't believe my eyes and thought I was deep into a terrible dream. I remember that empty weird feeling like it was yesterday. Do you remember where you were? Do you remember how you felt? Were you directly affected by this tragic event? I am not the type of person that preaches for our freedom or holds anti-war protests like Bill Walton when he was a rebellious student at UCLA during Vietnam, but my perspective on freedom, peace and the war on terrorism had changed drastically in the past two years.

I recently returned from a two-week trip across Europe visiting the US Army and Air Force Troops with Angie Akers, Brooke Hanson and Jeff Nygard. Along the trip we met some amazing troops and their families, which gave us all a new level of respect for our freedom, supporting our troops and the war on terror. If you could see first-hand what these troops and their families go through on a yearly basis, you would have this respect as well.

When I start writing my blogs, I write about what is on my mind at that moment in time. And this time it was September 11th. Usually I like to blog about my random adventures on my beach cruiser through Corona del Mar, a little beach volleyball, or my random stories on the road trips with the AVP, but this time I felt the need to reflect on the most tragic event in the history of the United States.

Hopefully this blog will help remind you not to take your life for granted and help you appreciate your life as a citizen of the United States. It shouldn't take a terrorist attack or a tragedy for you to be proud of your country, to support your troops, to appreciate your freedom and to wave your flags.

These are things that you should appreciate every single day as an American.

Thanks to all the troops that I met in Italy, Germany and Kosovo for inspiring this blog! Good luck in your deployments in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq! Be safe and we will see you all upon your return to the states!

Ten Four...over and out!

-Ty Loomis

Ps: Check out all of my new pictures that Angie, Brooke, Jeff and myself took while visiting the US Troops! They can be viewed in my picture albums at www.myspace.com/tyloomis. Enjoy!

Hello everyone!



I just got home from a 2 week trip visiting the US Troops in Italy, Germany and Kosovo! It was one of the most inspiring and rewarding trips that I have ever been on in my life!



The goal of the trip was to send 4 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Players to do camps, exhibitions and scrimmages against the US Troops to boost morale, to provide some high energy entertainment, and most importantly to make them laugh and smile! And that we did!



It helped that 2 of the AVP Players were attractive ladies that are in incredible shape. Our amazing athletes, which have great personalities, great tans, provided all the 1,000's of US Troops visual entertainment, as they haven't seen girls in red white and blue USA bikinis in years! Haha



One day I was cruising around Camp Bondsteel and one of the soldiers that were assigned to escort us around Kosovo saw me wearing my black "THE LEAGUE" t-shirt. He immediately told me that he loved BSN's products and that he always had their supplements shipped out to where ever he is deployed. So, with that being said, I had found the perfect soldier to give my BSN care package! The care package was basically the "MASS STACK ELITE" and a few ENDORUSH, which he was super stoked on!



I never thought that I would be in a position to give back to the US Troops. I was just a normal kid that was born in Wisconsin, was raised in Georgia, but had huge goals for overcoming every obstacle it took to become a professional beach volleyball player. After all that hard work and making my dreams come true, I am fortunate to be able to give back to our US Troops that are deployed overseas.



Seeing the troops laugh and smile during our camps and exhibitions was the greatest feeling in the world to me. And fortunately, with the thanks of BSN, I was able to make 1 soldiers day by giving him a sweet care package of supplements.



That was truly an incredible trip visiting the troops! I can't wait to do it again soon!



Thanks for reading and supporting our troops!



-Ty Loomis

now...getting ready for the 2009 AVP pro beach volleyball season

What's up, everyone? I hope all is well.

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am officially back on the Blog-a-thon! I know that most of you have been going through extreme withdrawals since I haven't been blogging lately, but I need all of you to take a few deep breaths, pretend that you're doing Namaste Yoga stretching, because everything is going to be alright!

Wow, it has been a long time since I last took my turn as the Blogging Master (Wax on Wax Off), so I have so many things to write about.

• AVP Belmar Open

• AVP Boulder Open

• AVP Chicago Open

• AVP Brooklyn Open

• My upcoming trip to visit the U.S. troops in Germany and Kosovo!

• and much much more...

So where do we start? Well, let's go back to the wonderful AVP Belmar Open!

AVP Crocs Tour Belmar presented by Bud Light

N.J., baby, N.J.!

Of course, when you think of New Jersey, you automatically think of all the highlights from this wonderful state.

• It has the highest consumption of quality jean shorts per capita in the United States.

• Joey and Tony is the most popular name here for guys by a landslide.

• There are more Italian pizza places here than in the whole country of Italy itself.

• The hottest girl that I saw on this trip last year was working a toll both on the freeway. We rated her a 10, but that was after we hadn't seen any hot girls for the entire trip. So we decide to give New Jersey girls a two-point curve, so actually must have been an eight! I think she was feeling the VIBE from me. Plus, I don't know what kind of uniform she was wearing, but it was hot! Is it bad that I tipped a toll booth girl in New Jersey? Ahh, whatever.

Let's be honest, as a single bachelor playing on the AVP Tour, traveling the U.S. from weekend to weekend, some people like to remember their amazing travel experiences by songs that they hear while enjoying those experiences, but I like to remember the cities by how hot the girls were. I'm just saying what all normal single bachelors and single bachelorettes think when they remember the place they travel to, and I am not scared to say it! Booyah, there it is! The sweetheart working the toll booth was an eight! Done and done.

Moving on ...

Those are just some of the standard things that people might say about New Jersey, but here are a few cool facts about their state. Check these out:

• It has the highest average household income in the country.

• As of 2008, it had more millionaire residents than any other state in the nation.

• It has over 50 resort cities and towns, including some of the nation's most famous -- Asbury park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside heights and Cape May.

• The light bulb, phonograph (record player) and motion picture projector were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park laboratory.

• Atlantic City is where the street names came from for the game Monopoly.

• Most importantly, it is home to the Miss America Pageant, held in Atlantic City.

In all seriousness, the AVP had stopped in Belmar, N.J., for 15 straight years, until it took a two-year hiatus to play in Seaside Heights. I almost forgot how amazing and beautiful Belmar actually was! When Larry Witt and I were cruising down the side streets of Belmar, headed towards the beach, it quickly reminded me that Belmar, N.J., is one of the best natural beach stops of the year!

Belmar has some of the most ridiculous homes on the beach ever! Every single house on the beach was massive, had huge, shiny, green grass yards, and definitely made me envious. In California, we have amazing houses on the beach, don't get me wrong, but none of them have huge grass yards like all of these houses in Belmar.

Belmar has a beautiful beach -- nice, deep sand -- and is surrounded by a very nice beach community. It has super nice and respectful people living there with a bunch of wonderful restaurants. Plus, it is always nice when the AVP rolls into town, and the locals are looking forward to this annual event! Almost everywhere we went in Belmar, we were approached by fans. They all told us how happy they were that the AVP tournament was back in Belmar, and they all told us memories and stories from particular AVP events that they attended.

One fan in particular approached Larry Witt and I at a bar and absolutely loved the AVP! He was so stoked to tell us about how he watched Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes play against Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, about how Tim Hovland used to battle in matches and then would always yell at the refs. (haha...classic!)

Hearing all of these local fan's stories reminded me about how much history the AVP Belmar Open has within this community! So, from all of the players, thanks to the awesome fans in Belmar for making this a pleasant stop this year and for always making it a pleasant stop!

I can't talk about this year's AVP Belmar Open without congratulating the No. 1 seeds on the men's side -- Matt Olson and Kevin Wong. This is the first time that Matt Olson has ever been a top seed, and Kevin Wong has not been a No. 1 seed in an AVP Open for quite some time now. Matt and Kevin heard a lot of trash talk from all the players in the player's tent that weekend, but they lived up to the hype and won the tournament. In the finals, they defeated Nick Lucena and Sean Scott on a windy day in straight sets. That was Matt Olson's first Open win and Kevin's seventh Open win!

Let me put this in perspective for you. If you win an AVP event, that usually means that you have already solidified a successful career on the AVP. Most players on the AVP Tour never win an event. The AVP has the best domestic tour in the world, with the best players in the world, hands down! So, to win just one AVP Open is an incredible accomplishment for any beach volleyball player, especially when Phil Dalhauser and Todd Rogers or Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor are playing, as they are the Tiger Woods of our tour.

Wow, I did it! I finished my first blog in God knows how long! Hope you got in a few laughs, a few smiles, as well as learning a little about the AVP Belmar Open!

Check back soon, as I promise to entertain you!

Make sure to check out everything on AVP. If you want to view more blogs, pics, videos and more information on my sponsors, visit my MySpace page at myspace.com/tyloomis. Feel free to send me a message or to send me a friend request.

Thanks for reading and spike hard!

AVP.com Article from the Chicago Open

Yet Hans Stolfus and Ty Loomis still made their first semifinals of the 2007 season, coming painfully close to reaching the final in the McDonald's AVP Chicago Open presented by Nautica.

The pair attributed much of their recent success to their trip to the Pan American Games last month, when they took the silver medal after losing the gold medal match to one of the top men's teams in the world — Brazilians Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego.

Since the games were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Stolfus and Loomis were the perpetual underdogs, receiving an unwelcome reception replete with boos from the crowd all tournament long.

"I think that playing in that kinda environment takes the pressure off," said Stolfus, who was warmly cheered in all his matches in Chicago. "Just playing in that kind of an environment and that kind of a crowd and having everybody boo you for entire matches."

But Stolfus and Loomis were still relieved to come back to their home turf and play their game on American soil.

"Obviously there's still pressure and we've never made a final, so it's exciting just to be in these [AVP] tournaments," said Stolfus of his homecoming.

Friday play started off slowly for the duo, who lost their second game of the tournament to Nick Lucena-Mark Williams, 21-16, 21-15.

After dropping into the contender's bracket, they closed out Friday on a high note, steadily improving their play. Their momentum continued on Saturday, culminating in their fourth straight match of the day in the semifinals.

Facing Brad Keenan and John Hyden — who were the eventual runner-ups in Chicago — Loomis and Stolfus absolutely owned the first game of the match, 21-15. But then something happened and they could not continue their high level of play to close out the match, losing the next two games, 21-15, 15-12.

"We played god-awful [on Friday] and then we kept getting better and better and better until we just kind of ran out of gas in that game, which is unfortunate," said Stolfus. "It was our fourth straight and then we played five [on Saturday] to get where we are today."

Their run in the semifinals was impressive considering all their setbacks. A group of hecklers taunted both sides of the net, adding another factor to the mix. Stolfus amazingly was able to remain confident and calm, telling his partner that every setback was no big deal even as he took a break in the match to grab a snack since he and Loomis never found time to grab lunch.

Stolfus kept up his usual witty humor, declaring at one point across the net, "Brad, you're on fire. Stop." And then Loomis took over and knocked down two blocks to get his side within reach in the third game, a contest in which they started out on the wrong side of a 6-3 score.

But ultimately, the victory was not in the cards this time for the Pan Am silver medalists. After his first semifinal appearance of the 2007, Stolfus still remained optimistic and hopeful about future tournaments.

"I think every tournament is a different tournament, so for us to go out and expect to do the same next time is a little unrealistic," said Stolfus. "I just think that we need to go out and play every match and you never know the draw and you never know where you're gonna be seeded. So I'd love to have finishes like this the rest of the year, but that'd be too good to be true."

After reflecting on his comment, he finally added, "You never know, it's possible."

Article summarizing the Gold Medal Match in Rio!

Loomis finished the gold-medal match with 12 kills on 26 attempts to go with two blocks and a dig. Stolfus added nine kills on 23 swings, one ace, one block and two digs.

"We are happy to have medaled, but to be honest, if we made a couple better decisions, we could have taken the match to three sets and possible even won it in a short third set," Stolfus said.

After trailing 3-1 early in the first set, the U.S. poured out a 4-1 run with Loomis collecting three kills and Stolfus a block. Loomis downed a kill to give Team USA a two-point cushion at 8-6, Leading 9-8, the U.S. netted three unanswered points on Brazil errors forcing the host team to call a time out down 12-8. Brazil answered with a 3-0 run out of the break capped by a Santos ace. Brazil tied the set at 14-all on a Rego block. The U.S. regained a two-point cushion at 16-14 on a Stolfus kill and Loomis ace. Brazil changed the momentum with a 3-0 spurt and a 17-16 advantage after a Santos block.

The turning point in the set, and possibly the match, occurred with the first set tied at 18-all. The U.S. powered an attack down that they believed hit the sand for a kill, but the referees allowed play to continue with a Brazil dig and ensuing kill to put the Americans down 19-18 instead of leading by the same score. The U.S. held off one set point at 20-18 with a Loomis kill, only to see Brazil end it at 21-19.

The second set witnessed eight ties and four lead changes before either reached 10 points. Brazil rattled off eight unanswered points to break away from an 8-all tie as Santos served out four winners in the run. Brazil went on to win the set 21-13 with the U.S. getting no closer than six points down the stretch.

"It was absolutely an honor to play in the final against Brazil," Loomis said. "We wanted to get to the medal round, so today we had nothing to lose. So we were enjoying the moment."

Emanuel finished with 10 kills on 21 attacks to go with a match-high three blocks and three digs. Ricardo contributed three aces, six kills and two blocks.

For the tournament, Loomis led all players with nine aces on 143 serves, while Stolfus finished third in the category with six aces on 117 serves. Loomis totaled 76 kills for second-most among all players, while Stolfus added 59 kills for fifth place. Loomis charted nine blocks for seventh place in the tournament, while Stolfus's eight blocks put him in ninth place.

The U.S. advanced to the title match on Saturday by defeating Cubans Francisco Alvarez Cutino and Leonel Munder 21-13, 17-21, 15-13 during the semifinal round. The victory guaranteed the American duo the first U.S. medal in men's beach volleyball during the history of the Pan American Games.

Loomis and Stolfus advanced to the medal round by sweeping Uruguay's Nicolas Zanotta and Fabio Dalmas 25-12, 25-14 on Friday morning during the quarterfinals. The U.S. won Pool C with a 2-1 record with victories over Ecuador and Venezuela before losing to Puerto Rico.

Loomis and Stolfus earned their silver medal at the Pan American Games despite only having played just three previous tournaments together this season. According to USA Beach Coach Gary Sato, the duo has progressed rapidly through disciplined communication.

"Ty and Hans are open to input and feedback," Sato said. "They communicate well amongst themselves."

As for the future, Stolfus says upcoming international tournaments are not out of the question.

"We want to play on the international circuit, and it will only be a matter of time," Stolfus said.

According to Stolfus, the tandem likely will enter the FIVB stop in Poland the first weekend after Labor Day.

USA Stats

Hans Stolfus: 9 kills (23 attacks), 1 block, 1 ace (19 serves), 2 digs

Ty Loomis: 12 kills (26 attacks), 2 blocks, 0 aces (15 serves), 1 dig

Totals: 21 kills (49 attacks), 3 blocks, 1 ace (34 serves, 3 faults), 3 digs



Brazil Stats

Emanuel Rego: 10 kills (21 attacks), 3 blocks, 0 aces (17 serves), 3 digs

Ricardo Santos: 6 kills (19 attacks), 2 blocks, 3 aces (23 serves), 1 dig

Totals: 16 kills, 40 attacks), 5 blocks, 3 aces (40 serves, 1 fault), 4 digs

2:27 PM -2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Warner Robins grad has chance at gold

By Robyn Disney - rdisney@macon.com

Who knew a chance encounter on a sand volleyball court at a Warner Robins apartment complex could possibly lead to a medal in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil?

That's how Ty Loomis' beach volleyball career got started, and now he is representing his country at the international level.

Loomis and his partner Hans Stolfus topped Cubans Francisco Alvarez Cutino and Leonel Munder 21-13, 17-21, 15-13 in the beach volleyball semifinals Saturday. That assures the Americans of their first U.S. medal in the Pan American Games. Loomis and Stolfus play Brazil's Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego in the gold medal match today.

"Our goal the whole time was to get to this point," Loomis said in a press release from USA Volleyball. "We now have to capitalize on this chance to win a medal. If we did not reach the medal round, we would have been disappointed, even with all the quality teams here."

Loomis was born in LaCrosse, Wisc., in 1979 and moved to Warner Robins in 1988. He lived at the Southland Station Apartments, which had a sand volleyball court. David Bartling, who coached a travel team in Macon, played volleyball with his friends on that court. He happened to walk by one day and saw Loomis hitting the ball around.

"I went up to him and asked him if I could give him a few pointers," Bartling said. "That's when it all started."

Bartling saw potential in Loomis but didn't know if he had what it took to be one of the best.

"He learned very fast," Bartling said. "He was very coachable. But size is important in volleyball, and he was pretty small back then."

Loomis is not short any more. While at Warner Robins High School, Loomis grew to 6-foot-3. He graduated in 1997 and went to University of California-Irvine to play volleyball. In 2000, he led the team with 450 kills, which ranks 10th in the program's history.

Upon graduation, he joined the AVP Tour. He has started to emerge from that tour the past two years. He finished fifth twice in 2006 and once in the short 2007 season. He has taken time away from the tour to prepare for the Pan American Games.

So far that preparation has paid off. The 14th-seeded Americans swept their first two opponents, Ecuador on Tuesday and Venezuela on Wednesday. Their lone loss was 23-21, 15-21, 15-8 to Puerto Rico. But they fixed their service errors to beat Uruguay and advance to the medal round.

Keeping track of all of it from home is Loomis' sister, Sara Bramblett, who still lives in Warner Robins. She even ordered ESPN Deportes for a month just to see if it would show any beach volleyball.

"I'm so excited for him," Bramblett said. "It's all so intense. I wish I could be there, but he knows I'm supporting him no matter if I'm there or not."

Quarterfinals VS Uraguay...Sweetness we are in the Medal Rounds!

PAN AM GAMES--BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Loomis, Stolfus Reach Medal Round at Pan American Games









by Bill Kauffman - USA Volleyball (719-228-6800)































FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



July 20, 2007



Loomis, Stolfus Reach Medal Round at Pan American Games



Bill Kauffman

Manager, Media Relations and Publications

Phone: 719-228-6800

E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org



RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (July 20, 2007) - Ty Loomis (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Hans Stolfus (Costa Mesa, Calif.) moved one step closer to winning the first men's beach volleyball medal at the Pan American Games by sweeping Uruguay's Nicolas Zanotta and Fabio Dalmas 25-12, 25-14 in a quarterfinal round match at Copacabana Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.



"Our goal the whole time was to get to this point," Loomis said. "We now have to capitalize on this chance to win a medal. If we did not reach the medal round, we would have been disappointed even with all the quality teams here."



The U.S. will face Cuba in the semifinals on Saturday at 4 p.m. Cuba defeated Puerto Rico 21-17, 21-9 in the quarterfinal match following the USA-Uruguay contest. Other quarterfinal matches are Canada versus Costa Rica at noon/11 a.m. ET and host Brazil against Mexico at 2 p.m. local/1 p.m. ET.



The bronze medal match will be contested on Sunday at 1 p.m., followed by the gold medal match at 3 p.m.



The USA-Uruguay first set was a tale of different sets rolled into one. Stolfus and Loomis overcame an early 2-1 deficit to net four consecutive points for a 5-1 advantage. However, Uruguay recovered with three consecutive points to knot the score back up. The teams traded the next 14 points in which the set was tied nine total times before a Stolfus kill gave the U.S. a two-point cushion at 14-12. Uruguay would not score another point the rest of the set as the Americans closed it out on a 9-0 run that included two Loomis aces. Stolfus was credited with 10 kills and a block in the opening set, while Loomis turned in three aces. The U.S. picked up four other points on Uruguay errors.



"We were getting them in trouble with our serves, but we were also staying disciplined on defense," Stolfus said. "Up until that 9-0 run, we had not been making plays in the tournaement."



The U.S. continued the pressure in the opening moments of the second set by gaining a 2-0 lead on Uruguay errors. The Americans pushed the advantage to 5-2, only to Uruguay cut into the deficit to pull within one at 5-4. Leading 9-8, the U.S. scored five of the next six points for a 14-9 lead as Loomis was credited with a kill and ace. Team USA maintained a 16-12 advantage until a 3-0 run solidified a seven-point margin at 19-12 after Loomis turned in two blocks around a Stolfus block. The U.S. closed out the set at 21-14 with Stolfus pounding a kill on match point.



For the match, Stolfus accumulated 14 kills on 21 swings against Uruguay to go with an ace and two blocks. Loomis totaled seven kills on 23 attacks, two aces, one block and one dig.



The U.S. held a 21-10 advantage in kills, along with a 3-0 block margin. One day after having 11 service errors against Puerto Rico, the U.S. limited that category to just two while holding a 3-1 advantage in service aces.



The U.S. reached the quarterfinal round by winning Pool C with a 2-1 record, despite losing to Puerto Rico on Thursday evening in three sets. Earlier in the tournament, Stolfus and Loomis defeated Ecuador and Venezuela in straight sets. But the loss yesterday stayed on the mind of the American duo.



"We had 11 service errors yesterday, and we are not going to win with that," Stolfus said. "Today, we served in and tough. Yesterday, we let them off the hook with our serve as they sided out without having to make a play."

AVP.com Article on Hans and I from Seaside Heights, NJ

The tournament here was their third straight together and produced their highest finish. A fifth Sunday also marked a steady progression from 13th in Atlanta and ninth in the Charleston Open.

Loomis said it's easy when you get along.

"We knew that when we switched in mid-season it wouldn't take long to get back to each other," Loomis said. "It is really easy to play with someone when they have the same style as you. When personalities match off the court, that makes it easy as well."

Stolfus, who partnered with Scott Wong for the first five tournaments this season, was trying to get to the semifinals for the second time in his career, while Loomis, who placed with Brent Doble at the start of the year, was gunning for his first semi.

A loss to Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers on Saturday dropped them into the contender's bracket and set up an elimination match with Sean Rosenthal and Jake Gibb. Loomis and Stolfus won the first game but dropped the second.

Then in a third set that went into overtime, Loomis and Stolfus had matchpoint on three separate occasions, but were unable to pull out the victory as Gibb and Rosenthal prevailed, 20-18.

"All we wanted to do was keep siding out and give us a chance to win the match. We told ourselves to stay aggressive, so we kept trying to serve them tough," Loomis said. "That was my theory if we could serve them tough, we'd get there. We kept telling ourselves to be super aggressive and just to go for it."

Stolfus was battling a chest cold throughout the tournament, but felt he and Loomis were never out of the match.

"The side switches were all one point," Stolfus said. "[Gibb and Rosenthal] only had a two-point lead once."

Loomis and Stolfus have played some international matches in Australia and plan to stick together for the remainder of the 2007 AVP season.

Seeing red: Mark Williams received a pair of red cards Saturday for language worthy of an "R" rating. He lost his temper and let it affect the game against Loomis and Stolfus.

In the contender's bracket, Williams was on the receiving end of that situation. When playing Tyler Hildebrand and Scott Lane, similar comments were heard on the other side of the net. The scene exploded when Williams thought the referees did not treat the situation properly and he let his temper get the best of him.

"I lost my temper and got a couple of red cards. Today [Hildebrand and Lane] said the 'F word' twice and got a yellow card and kicked the ball out," said Williams. "As players, we just need some consistency out there. I said it yesterday, that's an automatic red card. So I'm upset that I got a red card yesterday and lost a point. So we just want consistency."

Fortunately for Williams, he calmed down and decided not to let it affect his play. He and partner Casey Jennings went on to win the match 21-15, 21-12.

"But overall the refs do a good job," said Williams.

Cut shots: For the first time since 2002, the men's final here did not feature either Matt Fuerbringer or Casey Jennings. ... Entering play Sunday, men's teams with a hitting percentage (kills minus hitting errors divided by total attacks) better than .400 had won 81.5 percent of the time, while teams under .300 won 12 percent of their matches. Women are roughly the same, 80 percent and 10 percent, respectively, on those two categories. ... . For the 57th time in the last 61 opens, a women's title was won by a team that included Elaine Youngs, Misty May-Treanor or Kerri Walsh.

Up next: The AVP Crocs Tour will take the week off as the international side holds sway with the Smart Grand Slam in Berlin. The AVP will resume with the Long Beach Open, July 19-22.

Mike Scarr is a senior reporter for AVP.com. Monique Moyal contributed to this report.