Fans at the AVP Crocs Slam McDonald's Chicago Open presented by Nautica were treated to a men's final of Olympic proportions Saturday at Oak Street Beach.

Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers showed why they're the top-ranked team in the world, knocking off fellow U.S. Olympic team members Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal 21-13, 21-15 for the Chicago championship.

In the first AVP event since the U.S. Olympic teams became official, the top-seeded Dalhausser and Rogers claimed their 30th tournament title together and their fourth straight following a string of three FIVB championships in Europe this past month.

Following the match, Dalhausser summed up the quartet's focus for the month to come.

"I hope this is going to be the gold-medal match in Beijing," Dalhausser told the crowd before he and Rogers accepted the $25,000 winner's check.

The 6-foot-9 Dalhausser was a force, finishing the match with 13 kills, five blocks, three aces and a .647 hitting percentage to propel the duo to its ninth championship-match victory over Gibb and Rosenthal. The runners-up combined for 11 errors on Saturday.

"That's the best I've seen [Dalhausser] play against me. He's been dominant before, but I've never seen him do what he just did out there," Gibb said. "...We haven't beaten them in a final, and it's gotten to the point where I want it so bad that I think I'm doing things that I don't do in my normal games. It's eating at me, but it's something that makes me work harder so we can beat them next time."

Rogers and Dalhausser came back from early deficits in both games Saturday afternoon. Trailing 6-10 in the first game, the pair went on a 7-0 run to take control and then outscored Gibb and Rosenthal 8-3 the rest of the way. In the second game, the winners used a 5-0 spurt to put the championship out of reach of their opponents.

"For whatever reason, we don't score a point here or there. We tend to not score a point and then go on big runs," Rogers said. "I think it gives us confidence if we are down. It's very early in the game still. There's no reason to panic. We just get it back together."

Fifth-seeded Gibb and Rosenthal lost to Rogers and Dalhausser 21-15, 19-21, 15-12 in Saturday morning's quarterfinals, but they won a contenders bracket match to make it to the semifinals. They knocked off John Hyden and Brad Keenan 21-19, 22-20 in one semifinal, while Rogers and Dalhausser eliminated Nick Lucena and Sean Scott 22-20, 17-21, 15-7 in the other to set up the Olympic-themed championship.

Rogers and Dalhausser have won seven of eight AVP tournaments they've entered this year, and they will try to make it more at the upcoming Brooklyn and Long Beach sites. They said playing in San Diego also might be a possibility before they head to China. And while an all-American final in Beijing might be a long-shot, all four players said they'll keep their hopes aimed at just such an outcome.

"We played in Australia the first tournament of the year against them. When we shook hands, that's what we talked about: 'It's the start of a good year. Let's end it in Beijing in the gold-medal match,'" Gibb said. "They're playing really well right now. We have a lot of work to do."