Rogers, Dalhausser closing in on special season

Before the 2010 beach volleyball season began, Todd Rogers said his and partner Phil Dalhausser's goal was to win at least eight events over the course of the year.

"Honestly I think if we're not winning eight tournaments or so, over FIVB and AVP, I think it would be a disappointing season for us," he said. "We've kind of just set that as our bar."

Through 13 events, they've already won nine titles (5 FIVB, 4 AVP) -- with eight tournaments left to play. So with that goal checked off the list, the duo turns its focus to another preseason mention: winning both the AVP and FIVB Tour championships, something no team has ever done. This is the year to do it, because most other seasons have more conflicting tournaments.

"I think there's an outside shot that a USA team could win the international and AVP (season) titles," Rogers said. "It'd be pretty hard to do, you'd have to do exceptionally well on both tours because you're going to have to miss some of the events on both tours. But that'd be pretty cool."

Not only is their season already pretty cool, it has a chance to be historic. They're in great position to not only win both tour points titles and break their own record for titles in a season (they won 15 in 2008), they could also surpass the mark for most gold medals in an FIVB season (eight). They have yet to lose a match on the AVP Tour (29-0), and are the only team in the world to make the semifinals at every FIVB stop.

This week marks the first international tournament Rogers and Dalhausser will skip. Rather than jumping right back across the pond to play in Marseille, France, the duo is opting to compete in Long Beach, just 20 miles from their latest victory in Hermosa Beach. It's the first time all year they haven't had to travel immediately following an event.

But August will make for tougher decisions, as both tours host tournaments each of the last three weekends. Rogers and Dalhausser will need to decide between San Francisco and Kristiansand, Norway (Aug. 13-15); Manhattan Beach or Aland, Finland (Aug. 19-22); and either Chicago or The Hague, Netherlands (Aug. 27-29).

Rogers said where they go will be determined by how they fare the next three weeks, when they'll play the AVP Long Beach Open, then the FIVB season's last two Grand Slams in Klagenfurt, Austria, and Stare Jablonki, Poland. So what will they do?

Odds are that Rogers and Dalhausser will play on the AVP Tour two of those three conflicting weekends in August, considering their overall lead is slimmer on that tour. As of today, they have 5,180 FIVB points (1,520 ahead of No. 2) and 3,695 AVP points (245 ahead of No. 2). Winning teams get 800 points for an FIVB Grand Slam win and 600 points for an Open win; AVP teams receive 750 points for a title.

They're not likely to miss the granddaddy of AVP events, the Manhattan Beach Open, especially considering they were bounced in the semis last year. And Chicago the next weekend is the AVP Tour Championship, the culminating event for the points title. Theoretically, Rogers and Dalhausser could skip the Windy City if they already have the title locked up, but regardless, Chicago is one of the AVP's prime events.

So betting that they attend Manhattan Beach and Chicago, thus skipping the final two international men's tournaments, they'll likely bypass San Francisco to play in Kristiansand, where they could possibly wrap up the FIVB points title. That has appeal because it'd mean they spend the rest of their season stateside.

But if the race isn't over by mid-August, Rogers and Dalhausser could opt to play in Aland or The Hague, even if it jeopardizes their shot at the AVP championship. They've won that points title the past three years, but might never again come so close to winning an FIVB Tour championship.

It should be interesting.