As the No. 3 team on the 2017 FIVB World Tour points’ list, Dalhausser and Lucena qualified for their third-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals via the international ranking process.  The Americans placed second in the inaugural SWATCH Finals in 2015 and were fifth at the 2016 events.  Dalhausser and Lucena, who rekindled their partnership in August 2015, placed fifth at the recently-completed FIVB World Championships in Vienna.  Dalhausser is a three-time Olympian and captured the gold medal with Rogers at the Beijing 2008 Summer Games.  After starting the Rio Olympic process with Sean Rosenthal, Dalhausser switched to Lucena and the pair placed fifth in the Copacabana Summer Games after losing in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt.  Both players started playing on the FIVB World Tour in 2005 with Dalhausser joining forces with Rogers in 2006 to start a seven-year run together.  Only legendary Brazilians Emanuel Rego (77) and Ricardo Santos (56) have won for FIVB gold medals than Dalhausser (36, including seven with Lucena).  To date, Dalhausser has appeared in 106 FIVB World Tour events with 64 podium placements and 68 “final four” finishes.  Lucena has participated in 95 world tour events with 22 podiums and 25 “final fours”.