USA'S MAY & WALSH EARN JAPANESE OPEN "FINAL FOUR" BERTH AMERICANS BRAGADO & WOOD PLACE 17TH

Misty May-Treanor Photo: Ken Delgado Kerri Walsh Photo: Ken Delgado Danalee Bragado-Corso Photo: Ken Delgado Ali Wood Photo: AVP OSAKA, JAPAN - Top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh of the United States will get a chance to secure their fifth FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Gold Medal this season as they won three matches here Saturday (August 10) in the ninth annual Japanese Open. Minus three of the United States top teams due to a domestic event this weekend in Manhattan Beach, Calif., May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) will carry Americans' medal hopes into the "final four". May and Walsh will face teams from Brazil and the Netherlands as the United States seeks its eighth-straight title on the 2002 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. May and Walsh will play fourth-seeded Ana Paula Connelly and Tatiana Minello of Brazil in the first semifinal match Sunday before defending Japanese Open champions Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil faces sixth-seeded Rebekka Kadijk and Marrit Leenstra of the Netherlands. The winners will battle for the $22,500 first-place prize. After defeating 32nd-seeded Andrea Ahmann and Jana Vollmer of Germany 21-19 and 21-8 Saturday morning in their final Pool A match, May and Walsh scored two elimination wins to advance to their 12th pro beach "final four" in 18 career starts together. The Americans ousted 15th-seeded Annette Huygens Tholen and Nicole Sanderson of Australia (21-14 and 21-17) and 10th-seeded Vassiliki Karadassiou and Efrosyni Sfyri of Greece (21-17 and 21-14) Saturday afternoon. Kadijk and Leenstra advanced to the semifinals by defeating 13th-seeded Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau of Germany 17-21, 21-18 and 15-13. The Germans had earlier upset third-seeded Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia 21-18 and 25-23 to advance to the quarterfinals. Ana Paula and Minello, who split a pair of matches with May and Walsh in the 2002 FIVB Tour season opener in Madrid, Spain, ousted fifth-seeded Leila Barros and Sandra Pires of Brazil 21-11 and 21-16 to advance to the semifinals. Ana Paula and Minello defeated May and Walsh in a pool play match (16-21, 21-19 and 17-15, June 7) before the Americans captured the season's first Gold Medal by defeating Ana Paula and Minello 23-21 and 21-14 in the finale. The second-seeded Behar and Bede, who have won the last four Osaka Gold Medals, scored a 21-11 and 21-16 win over eighth-seeded Jia Tian and Fei Wang of China to advance to their 63rd FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour "final four" in 78 international starts together. The Brazilians have won more FIVB Gold Medals (27, including 1999 Pan American Games) together than any men's or women's team. In 80 overall career starts, the Behar/Bede partnership has netted $1,376,515 in combined earnings. 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 now 46-5 in match play this season, have 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. May and Walsh, who have 10 podium placements together, have now earned $140,000 in earnings in seven-plus FIVB events this season. Overall, May and Walsh have posted a 87-20 match mark in two seasons with a combined earnings of $251,750 (15th all-time for a women's team). On the FIVB Tour, May and Walsh are competing in their 16th international event with a 81-18 match mark and $243,000 in combined earnings (ninth all-time on the FIVB list). Danalee Bragado (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Ali Wood (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) finished with a 1-2 pool play mark after dropping a 21-15, 19-21 and 15-12 decision to Barros and Pires Saturday morning. Bragado defeated a team from Japan Friday before losing to an Australian tandem Friday. Bragado (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Wood (Hermosa Beach, Calif.), who were playing in their second event this season in the Osaka event after starting 2002 campaign with different partners, split $2,520 for placing 17th. Bragado and Wood were competing in their 37th pro beach event together. The partnership has now earned $95,532 (45th all-time). Bragado and Wood won the Silver Medal at the 2001 Greece Challenger with their previous best finish in an international "open" event being fifth at the 2001 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Austria. 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. The American tandems 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). All three teams will be competed Saturday for the $20,000 first-place prize in the $175,000 men's and women's stop. McPeak and Youngs will play DeNecochea and Fontana Saturday morning as both teams posted 3-0 marks Friday. Busch and Schuster won three of four matches Friday and face seventh-seeded Katy Eldridge (Los Gatos, Calif.) and Jennifer Meredith (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) in an opening elimination match. McPeak and Youngs, who have three FIVB Gold Medals this season with titles in Norway, France and Greece, headline the women's and domestic field in Manhattan Beach. The pair has posted a perfect 23-0 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. The United States teams of 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 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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