Gibb and Rosenthal, the No. 3 seeds, had to use 66 minutes to hold off Fuerbringer and Jennings to finally win, 18-21, 21-13, 21-19.
Fuerbringer and Jennings had a 10-8 led in the third set, and also fought off match point when trailing, 15-14. They also had match point at 18-17.
But Gibb and Rosenthal had the last spike as they came back to win the set and the match with a 21-19 victory.
In their five matches at the Hermosa Beach Open, Fuerbringer had 43 kills, eight digs and 14 blocks. Jennings had 70 kills, 60 digs and no blocks. They earned $5,280 and 370 points at the tournament.
Fuerbringer and Jennings lost in the third round to Hyden and Scott, 21-15, 16-21, 15-13, to get knocked into the contender’s bracket.
Gibb and Rosenthal will play the No. 4-seeded duo of Matt Olson and Kevin Wong today in the contender’s bracket finals.
Ty Loomis, another Corona del Mar resident, and Casey Patterson, the No. 8 seeds, are also still alive, playing in the contender’s bracket finals, even after suffering a loss to the top-seeded team of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, who won, 21-17, 21-14.
But Loomis and Patterson bounced back, winning twice in the contender’s bracket, both of them three-set matches.
First they beat Joey Dykstra and Albert Hannemann, 16-21, 38-36, 19-17. The second-set win was an AVP record, but they broke it in their next win, when they had to work extra hard to take out the No. 5-seeded duo of John Mayer and Jeff Nygaard, 20-22, 40-38, 15-10.
Gibb and Rosenthal had to bounce back too, after losing to the No. 6-seeded team of Brad Keenan and Nick Lucena, 20-22, 21-11 15-7.
