As the top American pair on the FIVB World Tour, Dalhausser and Lucena qualified for the 2017 FIVB World Championships via the international ranking list. Dalhausser played in five-straight world championships before missing the 2015 event due to injury. Dalhausser and Todd Rogers topped the world championship podium in 2007 and netted the bronze medal in 2009. Lucena will be playing with his fifth different partner in the world championships with his best placement being a fourth in 2015 with Theo Brunner. 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 (35, including six with Lucena).