USA's May/Walsh net Brazilian Open Gold

Top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh of the United States used a "strong" service game on Sunday to defeat Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar of Brazil to win the Gold Medal in the 2004 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour season opener in Fortaleza, Brazil.

An overflowing crowd of more than 4,000 watched Sunday's two medal matches on the Praia de Iracema centre court where lines for stadium entrance were formed at 5 a.m. to watch the action in the US$180,000 Brazilian Open.

Prior to May and Walsh's second-straight SWATCH-FIVB World Tour title on Brazilian beaches, Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Silva of Brazil defeated fourth-seeded Jia Tian and Fei Wang of China 24-22 and 21-9 to capture the Bronze Medal.

The Americans, who have now won 34-straight matches on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, were "impressed" their play. "Except for a few mistakes at the end of the second set, we almost played a perfect game," said May. "We expect to play like this every match."

The 6-3 Walsh, who poses a "big" threat at the net, felt her team's conditioning was a key. "We worked hard in the off-season and felt like we were in the best shape of any team in the tournament. We stayed patience today and made them work."

Walsh also used a revenge factor this week as she erased a second-place finish at the November 2001 Fortaleza tournament when she and Holly McPeak lost the finale to Bede and Behar. May missed the event due to knee problems.

In the 37-minute match, May and Walsh scored 26 points on their serves as compared to 12 by the Brazilians. "We were aggressive and never let them in the match," said Walsh. "The key to beating them is forcing them into mistakes with aggressive play."

In the first set, May and Walsh scored the first four points and used a seven-point run to take an 11-3 lead to take control. In the second set, there were five ties and two lead changes with the Americans using a 6-0 run to take a 13-8 lead. Trailing 17-11, Shelda and Adriana used a 7-2 run to get back into the match. With the Brazilian trailing by one after scoring two points on their serve, May ended the action with two kills.

Sunday's meeting was the 18th-meeting between the two teams on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour with May and Walsh now leading 11-7 by winning the last four meetings, including the 2003 World Championships last October in Rio de Janeiro where the Americans defeated Bede and Behar in the finals (21-19 and 21-19). Nine of the previous 18 matches have been for the Gold Medal with May and Walsh now holding a 6-3 edge.

With Sunday's win, May and Walsh collected their 12th SWATCH-FIVB World Tour Gold Medal together. The American's shared the $27,000 first-place prize while Bede and Behar, who were looking for their first SWATCH-FIVB World Tour since Mallorca in 2002, split $18,000 for the Silver Medal finish.

Bede and Behar, the winningest men's or women's team on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour with 29 titles, advanced to the title match with a convincing 21-14 and 21-17 semi-final Saturday over Larissa and Juliana. May and Walsh, who defeated Jia Tian and Fei Wang 21-19 and 21-19 in Saturday's first semi-final, were competing in their 18th SWATCH-FIVB World Tour Gold Medal match in 38 international beach volleyball starts.

May and Walsh, who have now won the last five SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events they have entered, also extend their overall winning streak to 59-straight matches, including 24 on the Association of Volleyball Professional (AVP) Tour and an exhibition match last month in Rio de Janeiro.

Ana Paula Connolly and Sandra Pires of Brazil were the last team to defeat May and Walsh internationally with a 21-19 and 21-15 victory in the Gold Medal match at the 2003 Norway Open July 5. Overall, May and Walsh have won 21 beach volleyball tournaments, including 12 titles on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.

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.