Misty May-Treanor Photo: Ed Chan

Kerri Walsh Jennings Photo: Brian White

Todd Rogers Photo: Ed Chan

Sean Scott Photo: Ken Delgado

Competing in the second domestic event of the season, the top-seeded May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) defeated second-seeded Holly McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Elaine Youngs (Durango, Colo.) 21-12 and 21-19 for the women’s title, earning the $14,500 first-place prize. May has now won 28th pro beach events, including 23 with Walsh.

With the men competing for the same purse, Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Scott (Kaliua, Hi.) denied three-time Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.) another title in his illustrious career with a hard fought, three-set 15-21, 25-23 18-16 victory in the crowd-pleasing title match. The win was the first of Scott career while Rogers was winning for the ninth time with the first eight with Dax Holdren.

“This was special,” said Scott after securing the win. “By beating the greatest beach volleyball player in history, this is something I will never forget. Hopefully, this will help us as we continue to play for a spot in the Olympics. A win like this will really help build our confidence. We were able to comeback after trailing 3-0 at the start of the third set to take a 5-3 lead. The crowd was really behind Karch, but I think they really appreciated our play after losing the first set.”

The men’s championship match, which took 79 minutes to complete, was the first career win for Scott while Rogers recorded his ninth title as the final two matches were played in 95° heat with six percent humidity before an enthusiastic crowd in the purpose-built stadium court.

Kiraly, who won indoor volleyball medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics for the United States before capturing another gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games with Kent Steffes in the first-ever beach competition, was denied his 145th career title while playing with new partner Mike Lambert. Lambert was a two-time indoor Olympian in 1996 and 2000.

Sunday’s three wins extended May and Walsh’s incredible victory string to 69 matches, including 49-straight on the domestic tour. Winners of 12-straight event titles since losing in a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event in Norway last July, May and Walsh advanced to the finals with wins Sunday over fifth-seeded Lisa Arce and Leanne McSorley and fourth-seeded Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan. For the tournament, May and Walsh finished with a perfect 5-0 record.

“We think about winning and improving, not the streak,” said Walsh after the title match extended their winning streak. “We need to get more consistent. We were kind of up and down today, but they’re a good team and challenge you. We were a little over anxious, but we did a good job adjusting to what they were trying to do against us. Second and third chances really kept us alive today.”

While May and Walsh appear to have a “lock” to represent the U.S. at the Athens Olympic Games in August, McPeak and Youngs lead Davis (Tarzana, Calif.) and Johnson (Tarzana, Calif.) by 26 points for the second United States in the 2004 Olympics. McPeak and Youngs defeated third-seeded Carrie Busch and Nancy Mason and Arce and McSorley to advance to their ninth-straight AVP finale.

“My timing was a little off today,” May said after calling the winning streak “amazing, but we want Athens. We feel very confident in our side-out game. We found a balance today to help overcome the heat. We don’t worry about what’s going on over on the other side of the net. We focus on what we need to do to be consistent and things will take care of themselves.”

May and Walsh have now defeated McPeak and Youngs 10-straight times, including nine times in domestic finals. May and Walsh lead the series 13-2 with McPeak and Youngs while being 6-0 against Davis and Johnson Jordan. May and Walsh, who also won their second-straight Tempe Open title after defeating Davis and Johnson Jordan in last year’s finals, won the 2004 AVP season opener earlier this month in Florida by defeating McPeak and Youngs, 21-11 and 21-11 in Fort Lauderdale.

After missing the 2001 season due to the births of their first childern, Davis and Johnson Jordan are seeking a return trip to the Olympics after placing fifth in the Sydney 2000 Games. McPeak, who is bidding for her third-straight Olympic beach volleyball berth, and May also placed fifth playing together in Sydney. Walsh (2000) and Youngs (1996) are also former Olympians while competing indoors in Sydney and Atlanta, respectively.

Rogers and Scott paced the men’s United States Olympic hopefuls at Tempe Beach Park while the other four teams in the Athens hunt placed fifth, seventh and ninth. After being upset by 10th-seeded Holdren and Stein Metzger Saturday, Rogers and Scott had to win four elimination matches to reach the finals. Rogers and Scott advanced to their second AVP finale by scoring a 21-19 and 22-20 win over 14th-seeded Jake Gibb and Adam Jewell in the semi-finals.

Dain Blanton (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Jeff Nygaard (Madison, Wis.), who are currently ranked as America’s No. 1 Olympic men’s team, placed ninth for the second-straight AVP event. Holdren (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Metzger (Honolulu, Hi.), who trail Rogers and Scott by 136 points on the United States Olympic ranking list, placed fifth after losing two matches Saturday.

The teams of Eric Fonoimoana/Kevin Wong and Matt Fuerbringer/Casey Jennings rank behind Holdren and Metzger on the Olympic qualifying list. Fonoimoana (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Wong (Pearl City, Hi.) placed seventh after eliminating Fuerbringer (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Jennings (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) Saturday before losing to Kiraly and Lambert Sunday morning. Blanton and Fonoimoana won the gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and split their partnership during the 2001 season.

Following next week’s AVP Tour stop in Austin, United States’ Olympic-contendng teams return to SWATCH-FIVB World Tour play May 19-23 in Rhodes, Greece for the women and Lianyungang, China for the men. The cut-off for determining the teams for the 2004 Olympics Games is July 11. The beach volleyball competition in Athens will be August 14-25 with the women’s finals August 24 and the men’s gold medal match August 25.

SWATCH-FIVB WORLD TOUR – The qualifying process for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games resumes May 19-23 with international pro beach volleyball events in Rhodes, Greece and Lianyungang, China. Six women’s teams from the United States will have entered the Rhodes event while four American men’s teams will be in Lianyungang.

Misty May and Kerri Walsh will lead the United States contingent into Rhodes Greece event along with the tandems of Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs, Annett Davis/Jenny Johnson Jordan, Carrie Busch/Nancy Mason, Barbra Fontana/Jennifer Kessy and Paula Roca/Garcia Santana.

United States men’s entries for China include Dain Blanton/Jeff Nygaard, Todd Rogers/Sean Scott, Dax Holdren/Stein Metzger and Eric Fonoimoana/Kevin Wong. The Asian event will be the third this season for the men as Rogers/Scott and Metzger/Holdren posted the best American finishes in Brazil and South Africa, respectively, in March.

Combined with a gold medal finish in Brazil in the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour season opener for women in Fortaleza last month, May and Walsh have now won their last 69 matches together while capturing 12-straight titles. The last time May and Walsh dropped a match was last season on July 5 when Ana Paula Connolly and Sandra Pires of Brazil scored a 21-19 and 21-15 win over the Americans in the finals of the Norwegian Open in Stavanger.

~ Tim Simmons