Another week, another three pro beach volleyball events

With the qualifying process for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games continuing again this week for women in Asia and the men in Europe, the domestic tour in the United States stages the second of three-straight events in Southern California with the "famed" Manhattan Beach Open for men and women.

The SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, which determines the qualifiers for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in August, will see the women's competition return to Japan for the 11th-straight season with an event in Osaka while the men compete in Portugal for the 10th consecutive year in Espinho.

Both events will have $180,000 in prize money with the single-elimination qualifying rounds beginning Wednesday (June 2) followed by double-elimination Main Draw play Friday with the medals being awarded after Sunday's finals. The winning teams in both Japan and Portugal will share the $27,000 first-place prize.

The Nissan AVP Tour stages the $125,000 Manhattan Beach Open. Qualifying for both men and women will be held Friday with the Main Draw rounds Saturday and Sunday. The domestic tour concludes the Southern California swing June 11-13 in San Diego before the top American teams on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour depart for the final three Olympic qualifying events in Switzerland ((June 15-20), Germany (June 22-27) and Norway (June 29-July 4).

Misty May and Kerri Walsh, the No. 1-ranked women's team in the world, headline the field in Manhattan Beach after extending their winning streak to 86 matches in winning the domestic stop last week in Huntington Beach to capture their 15th-consecutive event.

Both streaks are records for both men's and women's teams as the Americans have not dropped a match since last season (July 5) when Ana Paula Connolly and Sandra Pires of Brazil scored a 21-19 and 21-15 win over May and Walsh in the finals of the Norwegian Open in Stavanger.

May and Walsh have won six this season, including two international events in Brazil and Greece. The domestic titles have been in Florida, Arizona, Texas and California. May and Walsh's last defeat on American sand was in 2001 when the pair was competing in their first-ever event together in Florida. For American-staged events, May and Walsh have 14-straight tournaments (13 domestic and one FIVB) and 71-consecutive matches (64 domestic and seven FIVB).

The teams of Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs and Annett Davis/Jenny Johnson Jordan return to the domestic women's tour after competing last weekend in the All-American finale in China. McPeak and Youngs won the Shanghai title to move ahead of Davis and Johnson Jordan on the United States' Olympic qualifying list for the 2004 Athens Games.

By advancing to the Shanghai championship match, both American tandems erased previous 180-point finishes from their Olympic slates. McPeak and Youngs finished Sunday with 360 points to improve their Olympic qualifying total to 2,734. Davis and Johnson Jordan have now compiled 2,702 points after finishing the event with 324 team points.

May and Walsh are the No. 1 ranked team in the world on the Olympic qualifying list with 3,900 points from their best eight finishes on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour since January 2003. The top American women's teams will return to the international tour for the final three Olympic qualifying events in Switzerland, Germany and Norway.

In addition to sharing the $27,000 first-place prize in China with Youngs, McPeak tied Karolyn Kirby's record of 67 pro beach championships for a woman. McPeak now owns or shares the three women's career marks for event titles; tournaments played (228) and earnings as she increased her all-time winnings to $1,206,201, including $600,479 domestically and $605,722 internationally

The gold medal finish was McPeak and Youngs' first pro beach title since winning a domestic stop last June in San Diego. During the 18-event span, McPeak and Youngs had played in 10 title matches. In their first 19 pro beach events together, the McPeak and Youngs had captured 10 titles, including four in 2002 on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.

For the American men, the teams of Todd Rogers/Sean Scott and Dax Holdren/Stein Metzger will be competing in Portugal to continue their competition for the second United States men's spot in Athens. Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard, the No. 1-ranked men's team on the United States Olympic qualifying list with 2,188 points, will miss the international event to compete in Manhattan Beach.

Rogers and Scott are second on the United States Olympic qualifying list with 1,624 points for their best eight finishes since the start of the Olympic-qualifying process in January 2003. Holdren and Metzger have compiled 1,512 points for their last six FIVB finishes and still must participate in two more SWATCH events to become Olympic-qualified.

Eric Fonoimoana and Kevin Wong still have a chance for the second USA spot as the pair has compiled 890 Olympic qualifying points for their six events. However, the pair is missing the Portugal stop to compete in Manhattan Beach where they joined May and Walsh as the 2003 men's and women's winners, respectively.

The Portugal event has been one of Rogers and Scott's favorite spots as the pair as posted fifths in Espinho the past two seasons for their best international finishes prior to placing fourth two weeks ago in China. Metzger teamed with Wong to win the 2002 Portugal event.

Following the completion Portugal event, the men's SWATCH-FIVB World Tour returns to Puerto Rico June 9-13) before joining the women's international players for tournaments in Switzerland, Germany and Norway. After the San Diego stop, the next domestic stop of American players is July 8-11 in Belmar, N.J.

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

For more information on AVPbeach volleyball, go to the AVP web site.