Misty May-Treanor Photo: Ed Chan

Kerri Walsh Jennings Photo: Brian White

With Misty May and Kerri Walsh posting a 21-19 and 21-14 win in 38 minutes over Guylaine Dumont and Annie Martin of Canada, the United States is guaranteed at least a silver medal after failing to reach the podium in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.

“I am look forward to tomorrow and our match with Elaine and Holly,” said Walsh about their 20th all-time meeting with Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs, who scored a 21-17 and 21-17 victory over Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau in 43 minutes earlier Sunday.

“I am glad for our country that we have two teams capable of winning a medal,” Walsh noted, “but I am more excited that Misty and I have come through the competition in good shape against the world’s best players. It should be a good match and the team with the fewest mistakes will play for the gold medal.”

May and Walsh have won 16 of the previous 19 meetings with McPeak and Youngs, who netted one of their wins when May had to forfeit a domestic title match last month in Southern California when she had to withdraw due to her lingering abdominal strain problems. May and Walsh have won six of the eight matches on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.

“I feeling good right now, especially since we are playing only one match per day,” said May, who finished fifth with McPeak at the Sydney 2000 Games. “The format of Olympics has been good for me along with playing in warm weather. I glad that Holly and Elaine advanced to give our country two shots at a medal. No predictions on the match, except we’ll be ready to play.”

As for the American men, there will be no gold medal after capturing the 1996 and 2000 Olympic titles. Fifth-seeded Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel of Switzerland eliminated Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger 21-16 and 21-19 win in 43 minutes Sunday afternoon.

Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes won the inaugural Olympic competition at the 1996 Atlanta Games where they defeated American rivals Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh in the finals. Dain Blanton, who competed in the Athens Games with Jeff Nygaard, captured the Sydney 2000 gold medal with Eric Fonoimoana. Blanton and Nygaard also lost to Heuscher and Kobel in pool play 21-16, 13-21 and 15-13.

The Olympic Beach Volleyball competition continues through Wednesday when the men play their medal matches. The women’s final two matches will be played Tuesday.

Pool Play

Saturday, August 14
Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs, def. Susanne Glesnes/Kathrine Maaseide, Norway, 21-14, 21-14 (38 minutes)
Julien Prosser/Mark Williams, Australia def. Dain Blanton/Jeff Nygaard, 21-16, 21-14 (42)

Sunday, August 15
Dax Holdren/Stein Metzger def. Andrew Schacht/Joshua Slack, Australia, 22-24, 24-22 and 15-13 (80)
Misty May/Kerri Walsh def. Chiaki Kusuhara/Ryo Tokuno, Japan, 21-9 and 21-16 (35)

Monday, August 16
John Child/Mark Heese, Canada def. Blanton/Nygaard, 21-16 and 21-10 (46)
McPeak/Youngs vs. Guylaine Dumont/Annie Martin, Canada, 21-13, 12-21 and 15-9 (47)

Tuesday, August 17
Iver Horrem/Bjorn Maaseide, Norway def. Holdren/Metzger, 14-21, 21-15 and 16-14 (61)
May/Walsh def. Rebekka Kadijk/Marrit Leenstra, Netherlands, 21-11 and 21-13 (33)

Wednesday, August 18
Patrick Heuscher/Sefan Kobel, Switzerland def. Blanton/Nygaard, 21-16, 13-21 and 15-13 (55)
McPeak/Youngs def. Nicole Schnyder /Simone Kuhn, Switzerland, 22-24, 21-17 and 15-12 (62)

Thursday August 19
Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos, Brazil def. Holdren/Metzger, 21-17 and 21-10 (40)
May/Walsh def. Eva Celbova/Sona Novakova, Czech Republic, 21-17 and 21-17 (40)

Round of 16

Friday, August 20
Holdren / Metzger (12) def. Markus Dieckmann /Jonas Reckermann, Germany (4), 21-16, 19-21 and 15-13 (65)

Saturday, August 21
McPeak / Youngs (4) def. Celbova / Novakova, Czech Republic (12), 21-16, 21-16 (41)
May / Walsh, United States (1) def. Jia Tian / Fei Wang, China (7), 21-11, 21-18 (36)

Quarterfinals

Sunday, August 22
Heuscher/Kobel, Switzerland (5) def. Holdren/Metzger, 21-16 and 21-19 (43)
McPeak/Youngs def. Stephanie Pohl/Okka Rau, Germany, 21-17 and 21-17 (43)
May/Walsh def. Guylaine Dumont/Annie Martin, Canada, 21-19 and 21-14 (38)

SemiFinals

Monday, August 23
McPeak/Youngs vs. May/Walsh

~ Tim Simmons