In the first round of single-elimination play, eight teams were knocked out of contention for a medal. While one of the biggest upsets came when the No. 1-seeded Chinese team of Xu Linyin and Wu Penggen were taken down by Germany's previously struggling David Klemperer and Eric Koreng, the Americans remained hot and will move on to the quarterfinals.

Saturday night's beach volleyball matches showcased Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal in a nail-biter against Spain's Pablo Herrera and Raul Mesa. While Gibb and Rosenthal took the match in two games, it wasn't done with ease.

The first game went back and forth between the two teams but Gibb and Rosenthal came out on top 26-24. The Americans had a lot of support as the crowd was constantly chanting "Superman" in reference to Rosenthal and "Big Nasty" for Gibb.

The second game was again, very close. However, the turning point came when the score was 18-17 and the Americans were leading. If the Spaniards were able to take the point and make it 18-18, the game would continue to be too close for comfort.

Gibb's attack was blocked by Spain. "I thought 'Oh no, he blocked me again. It's a tie ball game," he said. But Rosenthal wasn't thinking the same -- he instinctively dove to the right and dug the ball up a few inches before it hit the sand. Gibb put up a great set and Rosenthal finished off the scrappy play by killing the ball with a rare left-handed swing.

The moment was so exciting that Gibb went over to his partner and said, "I love you." And he probably does because, without that switch in momentum, it might have been harder for the duo to finish of the match in two games. "It's 19-17; we score the next one, 20-17. It's a different ballgame," explained Gibb.

Rosenthal has been playing beach volleyball for so long that he's developed a few weapons that come in handy when necessary. "I try not to think too much out there," Rosenthal said. "When you think, you get in trouble. Sometimes it [hitting with the left hand] happens and it just goes."

Instinctual, scrappy, and skilled, some people are buzzing about Rosenthal calling him the best beach player who's playing right now. Legendary Karch Kiraly was announcing during the match and agreed with that superlative.

"I don't know if anybody else can make the plays where he saves his partner diving with his right about two inches off the sand and then getting up and crushing the ball left-handed," Kiraly said. "You're not going to see that from anybody else. That really saved them in that second set... He's just so fun to watch."

Earlier that morning, compatriots Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers also had to fight for their victory. They played against Dalhausser's birth country-Switzerland's Martin Laciga and Jan Schnider.

Watching Switzerland play, one could almost feel sorry for Schnider. Regardless of who was at fault, in the event of an error, Laciga was either verbally criticizing or glaring at Schnider.

Dalhausser and Rogers couldn't ignore the disaccord across the net and played it to their advantage. "At the beginning of the match, Jan was siding out really well, so we went to Martin," explained Rogers, "Then Jan chucked a couple sets and pissed Martin off."

The first game went in the Americans' favor 21-16 but the Swiss fought back in the next one and took it 23-21.

With the Swiss obviously not getting along well, it was surprising to see them win and then to begin the third game 6-0. Dalhausser and Rogers quickly recovered themselves and went on an 11-4 run. They resumed the lead and never gave it up winning 15-13.

As Dalhuasser put it in his blog, "It has been a roller coaster of emotions the past few days but Todd and I have found our groove and won't stop until we bring home the gold."