Blanton/Nygaard and May/Walsh lead USA charge at FIVB China and Greece events

Top men's and women's teams from the USA advanced at both FIVB beach volleyball tournaments in China (men) and Greece (women). Here's today's details.

Three USA men's teams advance in FIVB China tournament

Led by the tandems of Dain Blanton/Jeff Nygaard and Todd Rogers/Sean Scott, three teams from the United States advanced here Friday (May 21) from the opening Main Draw rounds to Saturday's competition in the $180,000 SWATCH-FIVB Beach World Tour event.

Also advancing with two wins in three matches Friday was 17th-seeded Eric Fonimoana and Kevin Wong. Fifth-seeded Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger were eliminated after losing their final two matches Friday to teams from Spain and Cuba after defeating a tandem from France in opening match.

With the Olympic qualifying process for men continuing at the first of seven-straight events through the Fourth of July weekend, the eighth-seeded Blanton and Nygaard posted wins over teams from Japan and China to advance to a Saturday morning match against top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil.

Blanton and Nygaard, who are the top-ranked team from the United States on the Olympic qualifying list points, are now guaranteed their best finish on the 2004 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour after placing 17th both times in the season's opening events in March at Salvador, Brazil and Capetown, South Africa. With 144 points guaranteed this weekend, Blanton and Nygaard's Olympic qualifying total will also increase to at least 2,152 points.

After advancing from the 30-team Qualification Tournament, the 10th-seeded Rogers and Scott posted wins Friday over tandems from France and Germany to earn a spot in one of Saturday's four opening winner's bracket matches against 15th-seeded Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack of Australia. Rogers and Scott earned a spot in the Main Draw by defeating Gerson Pocock and Colin Rorich in a Thursday qualifying match.

After placing ninth and 17th in the first two SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events in March, Rogers and Scott returned to the domestic tour in April and May to place third, first and second. Scott won his first-ever pro beach title when he teamed with Rogers to capture the AVP event in Tempe, Ariz., April 25. Rogers and Scott are second on the United States' Olympic qualifying list and have now improved their total by at least 24 points to 1,492 for their best eight SWATCH-FIVB World Tour finishes since the start of the 2003 season.

The Aussies advanced to their first match Saturday by upsetting second-seeded Tande Ramos and Franco Neto from Brazil 21-14 and 21-19 Friday. Winners of the last SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event in South Africa when they upset Emanuel and Ricardo in the March 28 finale, Tande and Franco also dropped their second match Friday to place 17th.

After upsetting 16th-seeded Iver Horrem and Bjorn Maaseide of Norway 21-18 and 25-23 in their opening match Friday, Fonoimoana and Wong dropped a 21-19 and 21-19 decision to Emanuel and Ricardo. The Americans rebounded by ousting a team from 18th-seeded Julius Brink and Kjell Schneider of Germany to advance an elimination match Saturday against ninth-seeded Linyin Xu and Qiang Xu of host China.

After splitting their first two matches Friday, Holdren and Metzger were eliminated by Francisco Alvarez and Juan Rosell from Cuba 21-18 and 21-16. The Cubans are the reigning Pan American Games champions after winning the title last August in the Dominican Republic while Holdren and Metzger earned the Silver Medal last October at the FIVB World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

With a 17th-place finish, Holdren and Metzger shared $3,000 and earned 72 team points in their fifth Olympic qualifying event together since the start of the 2003 international season. Holdren and Metzger, who placed 13th and ninth in the first two FIVB events this season, have now compiled 1,404 points and need to compete in three more international events to become Olympic-qualified.

The event is the first international tournament for men in China, which has hosted women's events the past six seasons (Dalian 1998-2000, Maoming 2001-2002 and Lianyungang 2003). China will host another women's event next week in Shanghai while the men play in the Serbia and Montenegro Open at Buda.

United States women's teams win all six matches Friday

Led by top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh of the United States, three teams from the United States each compiled 2-0 match marks here Friday (May 21) to advance Saturday's opening winner's bracket matches in the $180,000 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour women's event.

With opening Main Draw wins over teams from Germany and Brazil Friday, May and Walsh extended their record winning streak to 76-straight matches, including 36-straight victories on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. May and Walsh, who are seeking their 14th-straight event title, play 25th-seeded Andrea Ahmann and Jana Vollmer of Germany in their first match Saturday.

"We are so anxious to do well here and it's always great to come back," May commented before playing Friday as the pair has finished ninth and third in their two previous starts in Rhodes. Speaking about their chances at the Hellas Open on this leg of the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, Walsh commented, "Misty and I plan on doing very well at this event and it will provide us with great preparation for the Olympic Games. It's great to play in Rhodes because the fans come out and embrace us and we know it will be very similar in Athens."

The teams of fourth-seeded Annett Davis/Jenny Johnson Jordan and sixth-seeded Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs also won both of their matches Friday for the United States. Davis and Johnson Jordan scored wins over team from Norway and China while McPeak and Youngs defeated tandems from Italy and Australia.

Davis and Johnson play fifth-seeded Nicole Schnyder-Benoit and Simone Kuhn of Switzerland in their first match Saturday with the winner facing either May/Walsh or Ahmann/Vollmer later in the day for a spot in Sunday's semi-finals. McPeak and Youngs are challenged by 30th-seeded Shaylyn Bede and Renata Ribeiro of Brazil in their first match Saturday and the winner challenges either second-seeded Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar of Brail or 23rd-seeded Chiaki Kusuhara/Ryo Tokuno of Japan for the second semi-final spot.

With their two wins Friday, Davis and Johnson also moved ahead of McPeak and Youngs in the competition for the second United States in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. May and Walsh are the No. 1 ranked team in the world on the Olympic qualifying list (3,810 points). Davis and Johnson now have 2,450 points followed by McPeak and Youngs at 2,374.

May and Walsh are seeking their second SWATCH-FIVB World Tour win this season after winning the 2004 opener for women in March at Fortaleza, Brazil. The Americans have also won the last six international events, including the FIVB World Championships last October in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The last time May and Walsh dropped a match was last season on July 5 when Ana Paula Connolly and Sandra Pires of Brazil scored a 21-19 and 21-15 win over the Americans in the finals of the Norwegian Open in Stavanger. Ana Paula and Pires are not competing this weekend along with Australia's top women's team of Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson.

The tandems of McPeak/Youngs and Davis/Johnson Jordan tied for seventh in the Fortaleza FIVB season opener. Both teams have faced May and Walsh in AVP Tour finals this season. McPeak and Youngs dropped April title matches to May and Walsh in Florida and Arizona while Davis and Johnson Jordan were defeated by the top-ranked team in Texas earlier this month.

Rhodes is hosting a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour women's event for the third-straight season. McPeak and Youngs won the inaugural women's tournament in 2002 when they defeated Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst, the Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallists, in the finale. In an all-Brazilian final in 2003, Ana Paula and Pires defeated Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar in the title match with May and Walsh third.

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