Athletes > Phil Dalhausser > Bio

First-time favorites
Beijing will be the first Olympics for the towering 6-foot-9 Phil Dalhausser, who is partnered with beach volleyball veteran Todd Rogers, also making his Olympic debut. Rogers began playing on the AVP Tour in 1995, but it wasn't until he convinced Dalhausser (who debuted on the AVP in 2003) to join him in 2006 that Rogers began to win titles consistently. Since teaming up, they've won 27 of the 43 AVP events they entered, including eight of 10 in 2008. Internationally, the duo has won five of the 18 FIVB events they've entered, including three of six in 2008. They also won the 2007 World Championships, becoming the first U.S. men's team to win a world title. In that semifinal, Dalhausser/Rogers defeated defending Olympic champions Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego of Brazil. The Americans earned the most Olympic qualifying points in the world, but will be the No. 2 seed in Beijing because of an FIVB rule that allows the top seed to go to a team from the host nation if it finishes the qualfying period ranked in the top six. China's Xu Linyin and Wu Penggen were ranked fifth.

Force at the net
Because of his height, Dalhausser spends most of his time at the net blocking and spiking. Rogers, who is seven inches shorter, roams the back of the court digging and setting. "You need a big guy to set up a big block and you need a little guy to chase down balls," Dalhausser says. "Some of them will hit a hard-driven ball to me (rather) than to Todd. Todd is more likely going to control that hard-driven ball to where his partner can set it. Me, I'd probably shank it a thousand feet in the air somewhere to the right." Dalhausser was named the AVP Best Offensive Player in 2005, '06 and '07; the AVP Most Valuable Player in '07; the FIVB Best Blocker in '06 and '07; and the FIVB Best Hitter in 2007.

Working relationship
Dalhausser says he and Rogers work well together because they have similarly laid-back attitudes and get along off the court. "It's not like some guys who don't go out with each other and they'll be mad at each other on the court," Dalhausser says, adding, "We're both kind of low-key, we kind of keep to ourselves. And I think we're both level-headed and I think that's huge because guys get fired up and then they try to pound the ball into the sand." Dalhausser and Rogers were named the AVP Team of the Year in 2007.

Professor and pupil
A 14-year AVP veteran, Rogers is known around the tour as "The Professor." Once he secured Dalhausser under his tutelage, the "Thin Beast" -- nicknamed so for his tall, lanky frame -- began to thrive. One of the most cerebral players in the game, Rogers was an assistant coach at UC-Santa Barbara, his alma mater, and says he actually likes coaching better than playing. So he jumped at the chance to acquire a raw 6-foot-9 talent in Dalhausser, who grew up playing tennis and baseball. "Volleyball is for girls" was Dalhausser's response when first asked to try volleyball, but he played on the indoor club team at Central Florida, and spent a lot of time playing on the beach as well.

Living a fantasy
Were Dalhausser -- who was born and lived a year in Switzerland before moving to the United States with his Swiss mother and German father -- not playing professional beach volleyball, he figures he'd be behind a desk somewhere "crunching numbers." Instead, he works mostly during the summer and on weekends. The rest of his time is filled with playing video games and keeping up on his fantasy football, basketball and baseball teams. He owns a Nintendo Wii and says the best holiday gift he's every received was the Gears of War video game. And after a match at the AVP Cincinnati Open in September 2007, Dalhausser told the Cincinnati Post, "The win was huge for me because if we lose that match we have to play (Friday night). And I have a fantasy football draft."