Mariehamn, Finland, August 17, 2010 - World champions Jen Kessy and April Ross of the United States recovered a first set defeat to Australian Olympians Tamsin Barnett Hinchley and Natalie Cook to win the final two sets to lead eight teams from the Qualification Tournament of the US$380,000 PAF Open to the "money" rounds of this week's SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop on the Isle of Åland.

Due to entering the third annual PAF Open late along with compatriots Angie Akers/Tyra Turner and Lauren Fendrick/Brook Hanson, Kessy and Ross and the other two American teams had to play qualifying matches to gain a spot in Wednesday's opening Main Draw rounds on the Hotel Arkipelag courts.

Seeded first in the 45-team qualifier, Kessy and Ross opened play Tuesday with a victory over a Beach Volleyball pair from Finland before ousting the 17th-seeded Hinchley and Cook 22-24, 21-14 and 15-8 in 58 minutes. The Americans have now won all four FIVB meetings with Hinchley and Cook, who placed fifth at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Cook is a four-time Olympian with bronze (Atlanta 1996) and gold (Sydney 2000) to her credit.

Kessy and Ross, who were playing in their second SWATCH qualifier in the last three weeks, entered this week's FIVB event as the No. 4-ranked team on the international standings behind Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca and Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes, and Chen Xue/Xi Zhang of China. The Australians have been forced into the qualifiers after missing the 2009 season due to the birth of Hinchley's first child.

Two of the three American teams in the qualifier advanced from the preliminary rounds with two wins each, including the fifth-seeded Fendrick and Hanson. The second-seeded Akers and Turner were upset in the final qualifying round by 18th-seeded Stefanie Huttermann and Anni Schumacher of Germany 18-21, 21-18 and 15-13 in 52 minutes.

Huttermann and Schumacher were one of three teams from Monday's Country Quota playoff rounds advancing to the PAF Open Main Draw, including ninth-seeded Jana Kohler/Julia Sude of Germany and third-seeded Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima of Brazil. While the Germans won only one match each Monday, Vivian and Lima had to win twice during the Country Quota rounds.

Other qualifiers Tuesday were fourth-seeded Marie-Andree Lessard/Annie Martin of Canada, 10th-seeded Elisa Cella/Valeria Rosso of Italy and 11th-seeded Monika Brzostek/Karolina Sowala of Poland. While the Canadians moved as expected to the Main Draw, the Poles and Italians upset higher-seeded pairs from Latvia and Slovenia, respectively, in the final qualifying round Tuesday.