Phuket, Thailand, November 8, 2009 -- Jen Kessy and April Ross of USA rebounded from a "disappointing" gold medal setback last week in China to capture their second-straight title on Karon Beach here Sunday by claiming the top spot on the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT podium by defeating American compatriots Angie Akers and Tyra Turner in the finals.

The top-seeded Kessy and Ross finished their four days of Karon Beach competition with six-straight wins with the final result being a 21-12 and 21-17 victory in 37 minutes over the second-seeded Akers and Turner.

Sunday's match also marked the third-straight All-American finale for the Phuket Thailand Open as Olympic and world champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh topped the podium in 2007 during the qualifying process for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games by defeating Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs in the Karon Beach finale.

In the bronze medal match, 22nd-seeded Maria Bratkova and Evgenia Ukolova captured Russia's first-ever women's podium placement on the women's SWATCH FIVB World Tour by posting a 15-21, 22-20 and 15-9 win in 53 minutes over 17th-seeded Lauren Fendrick and Ashley Ivy of the United States. The Bratkova and Ukolova win denied the Americans a podium sweep for the third-time the 18-year history of the international Beach Volleyball circuit.

With the 2009 Phuket Thailand Open semi-finals being played Saturday afternoon, Kessy and Ross advanced to their 12th SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal match in 32 international starts together with a 21-18 and 21-14 semi-final win in 40 minutes over Fendrick and Ivy.

Akers and Turner earned a spot in the finals with a 22-20, 17-21 and 21-19 semi-final win in 63 minutes over Bratkova and Ukolova.

Fendrick and Ivy opened played Saturday with a 21-19 and 21-16 elimination win in 41 minutes over 19th-seeded Chen Xue and Linjun Ji of China before advancing to the semi-finals with a 21-19, 18-21 and 15-11 victory in 61 minutes over 30th-seeded qualifiers Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez Steiner of Spain. Despite the setback, Elsa and Liliana posted the best-ever finish by a Spanish women's team on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Bratkova and Ukolova began play Saturday with a 21-11, 18-21 and 15-7 win in 50 minutes over sixth-seeded Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani of Greece before claiming a "final four" spot with a 21-16 and 21`-17 win in 51 minutes over fourth-seeded Sanne Keizer and Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands.