USA's McPeak/Youngs upset Brazilians at FIVB Greece

While top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh were extending their record winning streak in an effort to win their 14th-straight pro beach volleyball event together, the more interesting storyline was the "confidence" regained by Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.

Both United States women's teams won a pair of matches here Saturday (May 22) in the $180,000 event to advance to Sunday's semi-finals where the winning team will share the $27,000 first-place prize. Both tandems will be joined by a third American pair to give the United States three teams in an international "final four" for the first-time since 2000 over a span of 41 events.

Fourth-seeded Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson rebounded from an afternoon loss to May and Walsh to score a 21-18 and 21-16 win over 23rd-seeded Chiaki Kusuhara of Ryo Tokuno of Japan in 36 minutes. The fourth team in the "final four" is second-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar from Brazil, who play May and Walsh in the first semi-final Sunday followed by the McPeak and Youngs match against Davis and Johnson Jordan.

May and Walsh will be facing Shelda and Adriana for the 19th-time since the Americans starting to play together on the pro beach circuits in 2001. May and Walsh have posted an 11-7 mark against Shelda and Adriana, including wins in the last two women's gold medal matches on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. McPeak and Youngs, who have posted an 11-4 mark against Davis and Johnson Jordan, will be playing their American rivals for the first-time ever on the international tour.

May and Walsh handled "business as usual" Saturday by extending their record winning streak to 78-straight matches, including 38-straight victories on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. May and Walsh spent only 61 minutes on the sand Saturday by defeating 25th-seeded Andrea Ahmann and Jana Vollmer of Germany 21-11 and 21-13 (33 minutes and Davis and Johnson Jordan 21-10 and 21-13 (28 minutes).

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

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.

After placing ninth, fifth and seventh in their last three international events, the sixth-seeded McPeak and Youngs defeated a pair of Brazilian teams Saturday to return to the "final four" rounds. After scoring a 21-19 and 21-19 win in 42 minutes over 30th-seeded Shaylyn Bede and Renata Ribeiro, McPeak and Youngs posted a 21-18 and 21-18 win over Shelda and Adriana in 43 minutes.

The win over Shelda and Adriana snapped a five-match losing streak to the Brazilian pair, the silver medallists at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the two-time FIVB World Champions (1999 and 2001). The series is now tied between the two teams at 5-5. McPeak and Youngs won the first four matches during semi-finals of events in 2002 and 2003.

Davis and Johnson, who moved ahead of McPeak and Youngs on the United States' Olympic qualification list Friday, opened play Saturday by downing fifth-seeded Nicole Schnyder-Benoit and Simone Kuhn of Switzerland 19-21, 21-17 and 15-8 in 50 minutes before losing for the eighth-straight time in as many meeting to May and Walsh.

May and Walsh are the No. 1 ranked team in the world on the Olympic qualifying list (3,810 points). Davis and Johnson Jordan now have 2,522 points followed by McPeak and Youngs at 2,482. 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. Davis and Johnson Jordan defeated McPeak and Youngs in the Austin semi-finals to snap a six-match losing streak against their AVP rivals.

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 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 and Adriana in the title match with May and Walsh third.

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