May/Walsh, McPeak/Youngs made it an all-USA final at FIVB Greece event

After placing ninth and third in their first two visits to this Greek island, the "third-time was the charm" for Misty May and Kerri Walsh on Sunday (May 23), as the world's top-ranked women's pro beach volleyball team captured the $180,000 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour title as two teams from the United States competed for a gold medal for the first-time in 14 international events.

With their two wins Sunday, including a 21-17 and 21-13 victory in 34 minutes over sixth-seeded Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs in the title match, May and Walsh have now won 80-straight pro beach events enroute to their 14th-straight title. In collecting a $27,000 check for the first-place finish, May and Walsh have now won five titles this season.

McPeak and Youngs won the inaugural women's Rhodes tournament in 2002 when they defeated Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst, the Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallists, in the finale. In an all-Brazilian 2003 final, Ana Paula Connelly and Sandra Pires defeated Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar in the title match.

Due to their participation in a domestic event in San Diego, McPeak and Youngs missed the 2003 Rhodes event. The San Diego win was the last title for McPeak and Youngs, who were seeking their seventh crown together Sunday. McPeak also won her last championship in San Diego as she is within one title of tying Karolyn Kirby's record 67 pro beach crowns for women.

Despite losing the final, McPeak and Youngs still shared $18,000 for the silver medal finish. May and Walsh have now won the last 12 matches against McPeak and Youngs enroute to a 15-2 career mark against their American rivals. Sunday's second-place also helped McPeak and Youngs erase placing ninth, fifth and seventh in their last three FIVB starts.

McPeak and Youngs' last win over May and Walsh was in the finals of a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event in September 2002 at Vitoria, Brazil. The event was also the last time for an All-American gold medal match. Sunday's final will also mark the 11th-time in 107 "open" FIVB events where two teams from the United States played for an international title.

Both United States women's teams won their semifinal matches Sunday morning to advance to the finals in the $180,000 event. With Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan also competing in the international "final four" this weekend, it marked the first-time that the United States had three teams in the semifinals since 2000 (a span of 41 events).

Although finishing fourth this weekend after losing the bronze medal match to second-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar (23-25, 21-16 and 15-11 in 56 minutes)., Davis and Johnson still moved ahead of McPeak and Youngs on the United States' Olympic qualifying list. Davis and Johnson split $11,000 for their "final four" finish while the Brazilians shared $14,000.

May and Walsh are the No. 1 ranked team in the world on the Olympic qualifying list with 3,864 points from their best eight finishes on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour since January 2003. Davis and Johnson Jordan now have 2,558 points followed by McPeak and Youngs at 2,554.

May and Walsh opened play Sunday by defeating second-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar from Brazil 21-16 and 21-18 in a 38-minute semi-final match. May and Walsh have won their last five matches against the Brazilians to improve their mark to 12-7 against Shelda and Adriana.

After losing their first set semifinal set Sunday to Davis and Johnson Jordan 21-15, McPeak and Youngs captured the final two sets 21-19 and 15-10 to win the 53-minute match. The victory also avenged a semifinal loss to Davis and Johnson Jordan two weeks ago on the domestic tour in Austin, Tex. McPeak and Youngs now have a 12-4 mark against Davis and Johnson Jordan as Sunday's match was the first-time the two teams had met on the international tour.

"We are desperate to go to the Olympic Games, so our semifinal win Sunday was huge for us in terms of the qualification battle between ourselves and Davis and Johnson Jordan. Our biggest focus right now is on reaching the Olympics in Athens," said McPeak, who entered the weekend with a 26-point lead over their American rivals.

May and Walsh have now won 25 pro beach titles together, including 13 on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. All of Walsh's titles have been with May, who now has won 30 career tournaments since becoming a full-time beach player in 2000 when she qualified for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games with McPeak.

Winners of their last six international starts, including the FIVB World Championships last October in Rio de Janeiro, May and Walsh have also won 40-straight matches on the SWATCH tour. 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.

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 semifinals to snap a six-match losing streak against their AVP rivals.

May and Walsh are scheduled to miss the next two SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events in China and Japan before returning to international for the final three Olympic qualifying events in Switzerland, Germany and Norway. Both the tandems of McPeak/Youngs and Davis/Johnson Jordan are scheduled to compete in Shanghai, China this coming week.

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