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USA's MASON & WACHOLDER ADVANCE IN FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD TOUR EVENT CANADA HOSTS COMBINED MEN'S AND WOMEN'S EVENT AT MONTREAL'S FAMED DU MAURIER STADIUM |
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Staged at the spectacular of Stade du Maurier (Du Maurier Stadium), Mason (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Wacholder (El Segundo, Calif.) defeated sixth-seeded Cary Wendell (San Clemente, Calif.) and Ali Wood (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) 21-15 and 21-15 in 35 minutes. With the win in the 28-team Qualification Tournament, Mason and Wacholder advanced from the three-team USA playoff for a spot in the elimination bracket. Wendell and Wood eliminated seventh-seeded Kerri Eich (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kristen Schritter (San Diego, Calif.) 21-14 and 21-14 in 41 minutes in the first USA playoff match. Wendell and Wood have now missed qualifying for the elimination brackets in the past three FIVB stops after being ousted in the last two events in Switzerland and Norway by Carrie Busch and Leanne Schuster in the USA playoff. Wendell and Wood have won their opening playoff match in each Qualification before losing the second meeting. The final eight berths in the women's 32-team Main Draw will be determined Wednesday at the 10,500-seat Stade du Maurier, which is hosting its first pro beach event as the facility is noted for staging international tennis tournaments and concerts. The men's Qualification starts Wednesday. The 32-team women's Main Draw opens Thursday with play in eight pools of four teams each. The men's Main Draw starts Friday following the same format as the women. The semifinals and medal rounds will be held Saturday for women and Sunday for men as the $300,000 event will reward the Gold Medal teams with a $22,500 paycheck. Canada is hosting its fourth FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event after staging the previous three stops in Toronto (1998-2000). The FIVB also sanctioned the beach volleyball competition at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg where Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil won the women's Gold Medal while Canadians Jody Holdren and Conrad Leinemann delighted the host country faithful by capturing the men's title. The Toronto FIVB stops had South American teams winning all three men's Gold Medals and two of the three women's titles. Holly McPeak and former 1996 Olympic partner Nancy Reno won the women's Gold Medal for the United States in 1999 at Toronto. Women's teams from Brazil won the 1998 and 2000 Toronto titles with Sandra Pires and Adriana Samuel capturing the crown in 1998 and Behar and Bede in 2000. The Behar/Bede and Pires/Samuel teams captured the Silver and Bronze Medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games where Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia claimed the Gold Medal. Cook and Pottharst, who have posted a second and two thirds this season on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, won the Bronze Medal at the 2000 Toronto event. Behar and Bede, the 1999 and 2001 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champions, defeated Misty May and McPeak in the 2000 Toronto finale. Behar and Bede, who have won a team record 27 FIVB beach titles, also placed second in both the 1998 and 1999 Toronto events. The Brazilians have placed ninth, second and third in the first three international events this season. The teams of Behar/Bede and Cook/Pottharst return for this week's event as the United States seeks its fourth-straight women's title this season on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) won the first two Gold Medals this season in Madrid, Spain (June 9) and Gstaad, Switzerland (June 22). McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and new partner Elaine Youngs (Durango, Colo.) captured last week's title in Stavanger, Norway (July 6) where they defeated Cook and Pottharst 21-17, 16-21 and 15-11 in the 55-minute women's finale. The top-ranked women's team on the United States domestic tour (Association of Volleyball Professionals), McPeak and Youngs have won 31 of 32 pro beach matches this season with $90,075 in shared earnings. On the AVP Tour this season, McPeak and Youngs have won 20-straight domestic matches with $60,900 in earnings on the AVP Tour this season. McPeak and Youngs have captured three events titles on California beaches this summer (Huntington Beach, May 26, Hermosa Beach, June 9, and Santa Barbara, June 16) along with a first-place finish in Belmar, N. J. (June 30). McPeak and Youngs rebounded from a "disappointing" fifth-place finish in their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event this season in Switzerland. McPeak and Youngs were eliminated from the Gstaad event by Cook and Pottharst (14-21, 21-14 and 15-12) for the Americans only setback this season. McPeak, who has won pro beach titles in nine of the last 10 seasons, was competing in her 90th championship match in Stavanger as the she has now claimed 61 Gold Medals with seven different partners. Internationally, McPeak has 14 FIVB Gold Medals as she was competing in her 25th finale. Youngs has now won 19 Gold Medals, including six on the FIVB Tour. With $54,300 in shared earnings this season, May and Walsh have now posted a 18-3 match mark this season. Prior to last Saturday's two defeats in Norway, May and Walsh's only defeat was in their opening match this season June 7 to Ana Paula and Minello (16-21, 21-19 and 17-15). May and Walsh avenged that defeat by defeating Ana Paul and Minello (23-21 and 21-14) in the Madrid Gold Medal match. May and Walsh, who were competing in their 13th pro beach event together with four Gold Medals, seven podium placements and now eight "final four" finishes, have now posted a 58-18 match mark in two seasons with a combined earnings of $166,050. On the FIVB Tour, May and Walsh were competing in their 11th international event with a 52-16 match mark and $157,300 in combined earnings. The men's Toronto competition featured three different Gold Medallists like the women. Martin Conde and Eduardo Martinez of Argentina captured the inaugural title in 1998 with Brazilians winning the 1999 and 2000 crowns. Zé Marco de Melo and Ricardo Santos won the 1999 title with Jose Loiola and Emanuel Rego defeating Canadians John Child and Mark Heese for the 2000 championship as the Brazilians trailed 14-6 in the finale to rally to win the title 16-14. Conde returns this season with Mariano Baracetti as the pair are the reigning FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champions after claiming the title last August in Austria. Emanuel is paired with Tande Ramos this season as they defeated Loiola and Ricardo this past Sunday in Norway 22-20, 18-21 and 19-17 in the 64-minute title match. Prior to winning the 2000 Toronto crown, Loiola and Emanuel had placed second in both the 1998 and 1999 Canadian events. Emanuel holds the record for most FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Gold Medals with 36, including six with Tande, and 15 each with Loiola and Zé Marco. The top finish by an United States men's team in Toronto was a Bronze Medal for Rob Heidger and Kevin Wong when they defeated American rivals Adam Johnson and Karch Kiraly in the 1999 third-place match. Heidger and Johnson have retired from the sport while Wong (Pearl City, Hi.) is teamed with Stein Metzger (Honolulu, Hi.) on the FIVB circuit. Metzger and Wong placed third in their first FIVB event this season in Switzerland before finishing 17th last week in Norway. Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana, who captured the men's Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Gold Medal for the United States, are scheduled to compete on the Stade du Maurier sand this week. Blanton (Laguna Beach, Calif.) is playing with Carl Henkel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) while Fonoimoana (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) is paired with Dax Holdren (Santa Barbara, Calif.). Both teams placed ninth last week in Norway. Other USA women's Main Draw entries this week have Dianne DeNecochea (San Diego, Calif.)/Barbra Fontana (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Busch (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)/Schuster (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) in the women's competition. DeNecochea and Fontana posted a fifth in Norway and Busch and Schuster a 17th. The fourth American men's team in the Main Draw will be Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Sean Scott (San Diego, Calif.). The pair did not compete in Norway last week after placing ninth and 17th in the first two men's FIVB stops in Germany and Switzerland. USA men's teams scheduled to compete in the qualifier are John Hyden (Los Angeles, Calif.)/Christian McCaw (Santa Monica, Calif.), Matt Heath (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)/Adam Roberts (Murrells Inlet, S.C.) and Casey Jennings (Huntington Beach, Calif.)/Brad Torsone (Redondo Beach, Calif.).
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
Playoff (Country Quota for the United States (winner advances to
single-elimination Qualification Tournament Bracket; losers eliminated,
places 41st and 57th)
Second-round (losers eliminated, place 41st)
July 10 Women's Qualification Tournament Schedule
Third-round (winners advance to Main Draw, losers eliminated, place 33rd)
Women's Main Draw Entries
Men's Main Draw Entries
~ Tim Simmons |
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