Phil Dalhausser
Born: Jan. 26, 1980
Hometown: Ormond Beach, Fla.
Resides: Ventura, Calif.
Height: 6-9
College: University of Central Florida
Current Coach: Works with trainer Bob Alejo
Olympic Experience: 2008 Men's Beach Volleyball (Gold Medal)
PERSONAL: Born Philip Peter Dalhausser on Jan. 26, 1980, in Baden, Aargau, Switzerland... Parents are Peter and Marianne Dalhausser... Has one brother, Mark... Received a degree in business administration from University of Central Florida... Graduated from Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1998... Played tennis for three years, baseball for two years and volleyball for one year in high school... Hobbies include Xbox, fantasy sports, tennis and volley pong... Would be "sitting behind a computer crunching numbers" if he was not playing volleyball... After college, worked for a concrete company and then worked a short time for a firm that painted stripes on Florida highways... Lists his dad as the person he most admires because he has endured "many serious illnesses"... Dalhausser credits partner Todd Rogers (who was an assistant volleyball coach at UC Santa Barbara) with making him a better player... Favorite TV show is SportsCenter... Phil's nickname on the AVP tour had been the Thin Beast; but during the 2008 Olympic Games, he was renamed the Beijing Beast.
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 - Phil was named most outstanding player of the Olympic beach volley ball tournament after he and partner Todd Rogers won the gold medal in Beijing. Phil was the leading server and blocker of the tournament, finishing with 14 aces and 42 blocks in seven matches. Phil and Todd went 6-1 at the Olympic tournament after losing their opening match to Latvia's 23rd-ranked Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs. Phil and Todd had the most Olympic qualifying points of any team in the Games, but were ranked second due to an FIVB rule that allows the host country the top ranking if it has a team in the top six... Phil and Todd went into Beijing as the defending FIVB World Champions and were the first U.S. men's beach team to win the title since the FIVB started holding the event in 1997. Phil and Todd played in six FIVB World Tour events in 2008 as they worked to secure Olympic qualification and won the last three Grand Slam events (in Paris, France; Stavanger, Norway; Moscow, Russia)… They finished second in one event (Berlin, Germany) and third in two (Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy; Adelaide, Australia)… Dalhausser was named the Most Outstanding Player of the events in Stavanger and Moscow. The team has won $94,000. 2007 - Won the first world championship for a U.S. men's beach team in Gstaad, Switzerland... Competed in six tournaments winning one gold medal, one silver and one bronze. Won $68,250. 2006 – Played in six tournaments with one first-place finish, one second and one third. Won $49,350. 2005 – Netted one top 10 finish in three tournament appearances... Improved to 78th for the end of season ranking... Earned $11,250. 2004 – Made his debut by finishing 25th in his first tournament... Finished the season ranked 163rd... Received $1,000 in prize money.
DOMESTIC HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 – Going into the Olympic Games, Phil and Todd have won eight out of 10 AVP tournaments, finishing second in their final tournament in Long Beach, Calif. (July 24-26) and losing to Olympic teammates Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal. They also finished third in Atlanta (May 30-June 1). They have won $97,250. 2007 – Played in 17 AVP tournaments with 10 first-place finishes, two seconds, four thirds and one fourth. Won $207,750 and finished season ranked first. 2006 – Played in 16 AVP tournaments and finished first nine times with one second-place finish and four thirds. Finished in the top-10 in all 16 tourneys. Won $163,975 and finished season ranked third. 2005 – Played in 14 AVP tournaments with one first-place finish, one second and two thirds. Finished in the top-10 12 times and won $50,037.50. Finished season ranked 13th. 2004 – Played in 10 AVP tournaments with one third-place finish and six top-10 placings. Won $10,647.50 and finished season ranked 21st. 2003 – Played in six AVP tournaments with no top-10 placings. Won $780.
PARTNERS: 2008 – Todd Rogers. 2007 – Todd Rogers. 2006 – Todd Rogers. 2005 – Todd Rogers, Nicholas Lucena. 2004 – Adam Roberts.
HONORS: 2007 - FIVB Best Blocker and Best Hitter... AVP Team of the Year and Crocs Cup Champion (with Todd Rogers)... AVP Most Valuable Player and Best Offensive Player. 2006 – FIVB Most Improved Player... AVP Best Offensive Player. 2005 – AVP Best Offensive Player.
COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 1996 - Named "Most Valuable Player"... Received the William G. Morgan Award for most outstanding player.
