Jen Kessy and April Ross won gold and Angie Akers and Tyra Turner took silver as American women finished the 2009 FIVB season on a high note Sunday at the Phuket Thailand Open. It marked Kessy/Ross’ second straight win in Phuket and Akers/Turner’s highest FIVB finish.

Top-seeded Kessy and Ross won all six of their matches over four days on Karon Beach, capping it off with a 21-12, 21-17 gold medal match victory over No. 2 seeds and fellow AVP stars Akers and Turner. Akers and Turner’s first FIVB title match as a team was their seventh FIVB bout with Kessy and Ross, who have taken all seven. Kessy and Ross also defeated Akers and Turner twice on the 2009 AVP Tour.

Americans nearly swept the podium, but 17th-seeded Lauren Fendrick and Ashley Ivy dropped the bronze medal match to 22nd-seeded Maria Bratkova and Evgenia Ukolova of Russia by a 15-21, 22-20, 15-9 score for Russia’s first-ever women’s FIVB medal. Bratkova and Ukolova denied the USA its third medal sweep in the 18-year history of the international beach volleyball circuit.

Sunday’s final marked the third straight All-American gold medal match in Phuket. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh topped Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs in 2007 before Kessy and Ross beat Branagh and Turner last year.

Kessy and Ross, winners of six FIVB gold medals since teaming up in 2007, split the $30,000 first-place prize. It was their third international title this season, including the World Championships in Norway in July.

After advancing to her first FIVB gold medal match, Akers split the $21,000 second-place prize with Turner. In addition to second-place finishes in Phuket the past two years, Turner placed fifth with Rachel Wacholder in the 2007 Karon Beach event that saw Kessy and Ross finish ninth.

The Phuket Thailand Open wrapped up the women’s FIVB season. The men’s tour ended in Sanya, China, on Oct. 31.

For more information, including complete results and photos, click here.