USA'S MAY/WALSH & BRAGADO/WOOD SET FOR OPENING JAPANESE OPEN POOL PLAY ROUNDS FRIDAY

Misty May-Treanor Photo: Ken Delgado Kerri Walsh Photo: Ken Delgado Danalee Bragado-Corso Photo: Ken Delgado Ali Wood Photo: AVP OSAKA, JAPAN - When the United States tandems of top-seeded Misty May/Kerri Walsh and 28th-seeded Danalee Bragado/Ali Wood begin play here Friday (August 9) in the ninth annual Japanese Open, the American field will be minus three standout teams for the $150,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event. The American teams of Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs, Dianne DeNecochea/Barbra Fontana and Carrie Busch/Leanne Schuster are missing the eighth women's FIVB Tour stop this season to participate this weekend in an Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour event in Manhattan Beach, Calif. (August 8-11). McPeak and Youngs, who have three FIVB Gold Medals this season with titles in Norway, France and Greece, headline the men's and domestic field in Manhattan Beach. The pair has posted a perfect 20-0 AVP Tour record this season in winning all four domestic women's titles. DeNecochea and Fontana have posted three second-place finishes in four domestic starts this season while Busch and Schuster have three third-place finishes. May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) will be seeking America's eighth-straight women's Gold Medal this season on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The No. 1-ranked team in the world, May and Walsh have won FIVB Gold Medals in Spain, Switzerland, Canada and last week in Austria. May and Walsh, who are 41-5 in match play this season, have now won six pro beach titles together. May has won 11 pro beach crowns. Each of Walsh's six Gold Medals have been with May, who had won her first five titles with McPeak. With seven-straight match wins in Austria last week, May and Walsh are now 41-5 this season. By defeating Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil in last Saturday's Austrian Open Gold Medal match, May and Walsh now lead the head-to-head series with the South Americans 5-4. Walsh was also playing Behar and Bede for the seventh-time in a FIVB title match as the second-season USA pro dropped a FIVB Gold Medal match to the Brazilians last November in that South American country with McPeak. May and Walsh, who will be competing in their 18th pro beach event together in Japan, have 10 podium placements and 11 "final four" finishes together. May and Walsh have now earned $130,700 in earnings in seven FIVB events this season. Overall, May and Walsh have posted a 82-20 match mark in two seasons with a combined earnings of $242,450 (17th all-time for a women's team). On the FIVB Tour, May and Walsh were competing in their 15th international event with a 76-18 match mark and $233,700 in combined earnings (10th all-time on the FIVB list). Bragado (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Wood (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) are playing in their second event this season in theOsaka event after starting 2002 campaign with different partners. Bragado finished second in the 1996 Osaka event with Pat Keller after losing the Gold Medal match to Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia. Competing in their 37th pro beach event together, Bragado and Wood have teamed to earn $93,012 (45th all-time). Bragado and Wood won the Silver Medal at the 2001 Greece Challenger with their best finish in an international "open" event being fifth at the 2001 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Austria. The United States teams of Barbra Fontana/Lori Forsythe (1994) and McPeak/Nancy Reno (1995) won the first two Osaka women's events. The Japanese city has hosted more FIVB women's events than any other international site. Cook and Pottharst won the 1996 title in their first event following the Aussie's Bronze Medal finish at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Cook and Pottharst followed their Atlanta effort with a Gold Medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games where they defeated Behar and Bede in the final. Monica Rodriques and Adriana Samuel started a run of five-straight Osaka Gold Medals for Brazil by winning the 1997 crown. Behar and Bede, who have won a record 26 FIVB "open" events, captured the next four Osaka Gold Medals for Brazil. Behar and Bede defeated May and Walsh for the 2001 crown. May also placed fourth in the 2000 Osaka event with McPeak. The 2002 women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour concludes in September with events in Spain (Mallorca, 3-7) and Brazil (Vitoria, 17-22). The men's international tour concludes with stops in Spain (August 7-11 in Cadiz and September 4-8 in Mallorca) and Brazil (October 1-6 in Fortaleza). The 2002 AVP Tour concludes September 5-8 in Las Vegas, Nev. Individual Match Results and Schedule Pool Play Results Tournament Results Previous Osaka Tournaments ~ Tim Simmons

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