In the next few days, all four beach volleyball teams will make their way over to Beijing. The plane ride will be between 13 and 16 hours depending on the flight -- plenty of time to get anxious about the experience you're going to embark on as an athlete.

Not so for Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal, they plan to relax. "I'm going to sit back in my seat and sleep," Rosenthal planned. "I'll wake up for meals and then go back to sleep." His partner plans on reading and brushing up on his PlayStation skills.

Upon arriving, the guys will have a few days to get acclimated before competition begins on August 9th and it's time to get serious. "Playing in the Olympics is an absolute honor. It's the highest honor that's ever been given to me," said Gibb. "I'm so excited to get to compete with Sean and work with [coach] Dodd."

The duo is coming into the games ranked No. 9 and is in a pool that includes No. 6 Germany, No. 16 Netherlands and lowest ranked No. 23 Japan. "We're not the favorites," explained Gibb but he said it could be considered a blessing in disguise because "there's not as much pressure and we don't have anything to lose."

However, this is also the time when nerves come in to play. "If you're not nervous, you're not human!" said Rosenthal who plans on dealing with gameday anxiety by focusing on the match at hand. "I'm going to tell myself 'It's just another game with a few more people watching.'"

Rosenthal and Gibb anticipate each match being competitive but they really hope that they get to run into compatriots, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. The feeling is probably mutual after the last time they met. In the Long Beach tournament, Rosenthal and Gibb upset the No. 1 team in the world. "They're probably our biggest competition so I'd love to play them late in the tournament," said Rosenthal, with a smile.

That would be a match everyone would love to see take place in the gold medal game. Should it come to that, some of the AVP's past Olympians had advice for Rosenthal and Gibb. "Stein [Metzger] sent me a text reminding me not to let the 'hoopla' get to me and Dax [Holdren] said to 'go out there and just have fun,'" said Rosenthal.

To "just have fun" is definitely what the guys want to do on their first time to the Olympics. "I also want to come back knowing that I played my best out there," said Gibb.