USA's May/Walsh advance to Brazilian Open semifinals

For their 14th-straight SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event, Misty May and Kerri Walsh have advanced to the "final four" on the international beach volleyball circuit as the top-seeded Americans will face fourth-seeded Jia Tian and Fei Wang of China in the first semifinal match on Saturday in Fortaleza, Brazil.

While the top-seeded May and Walsh were extending their international winning streak to 32-straight matches, two other teams from the United States were placing seventh Friday in the season opener for women on Praia de Iracema as both tandems dropped their final matches in the double-elimination tournament.

With May and Walsh guaranteed to split $11,000 for the event, the teams of Annett Davis/Jenny Johnson Jordan and Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs will each share $7,000. Carrie Busch and Nancy Mason, the fourth USA team in the Main Draw, was eliminated Thursday after winning one of three matches to split $3,000.

Played before enthusiastic crowds where hot and humid conditions confronted both the spectators and players, "surprising" 28th-seeded Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Silva joined Brazilian counterparts Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar in Saturday's semi-finals along with Jia Tian and Fei Wang of China.

May and Walsh play Jia Tian and Fei Wang in the first semi-final match of the $180,000 Brazilian Open at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on the Praia de Iracema centre court. The second-seeded Bede and Behar are challenged by Larissa and Felisberta Silva in the second semi-final at 10 a.m.

May and Walsh, who last lost a match on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour at the 2003 Norway Open (July 5), opened Friday's play with a 21-17 and 21-13 win over ninth-seeded Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau of Germany. The Americans advanced to the semi-finals with a 18-21, 24-22 and 15-8 come-from-behind win in 60 minutes over 28th-seeded Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Silva of Brazil.

"We were not ready to play in the first set since we did not warm up properly, said May after their semi-final qualifying match. "Give the Brazilians a lot of credit; they were tough for 2½ sets before running out of gas. Last year at this time, I would have been the one running on fumes in the third set."

Walsh felt that "she and Misty became more aggressive at the match progressed. We started to figure out their game and were able to make some adjustments. Again, our conditioning helped us at the end. For the first event of the year, we are pleased with our effort."

When counting 24-straight wins on May and Walsh's domestic tour (Association of Volleyball Professionals) and an exhibition last month in Rio de Janeiro, the top-ranked Americans have now won 57-straight matches to better the previous mark of 55 set in 1993 by Karolyn Kirby and Liz Masakayan.

McPeak and Youngs won one of three matches Friday while Davis and Johnson Jordan won two of three elimination matches. Seeded seventh in the main draw, McPeak and Youngs were eliminated sixth-seeded Nicole Benoit and Simone Kuhn of Switzerland (21-19, 19-21 and 15-12). Jia Tian and Fei Wang ousted the fifth-seeded Davis and Johnson Jordan (16-21, 23-21 and 15-12).

The Brazilian Open continues the qualifying process for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. After this week's event, competition on the women's SWATCH-FIVB World Tour resumes May 19-23 in Rhodes, Greece followed by other Olympic qualifying events in China, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Canada. The process began last June in Greece and concludes July 11 when the 24 teams are determined for the August 14-24 Olympic Games in Athens.

For more information on FIVB beach volleyball, go to the FIVB web site.