May/Walsh, Rosenthal/Witt capture AVP Belmar titles

The raucous crowd at the AVP Nissan Series Belmar Open witnessed two entertaining finals as top seeded Misty May (Long Beach, CA) and Kerri Walsh (Manhattan Beach, CA) captured their fourth title this season while newcomers Sean Rosenthal and Larry Witt won their first career title before a packed crowd at Belmar Beach, NJ.

The women's final saw the top seeds dispatch the second seeded team of Holly McPeak (Manhattan CA) and Elaine Youngs (Durango; CO) in workmanlike fashion by the scores of 21-17, 21-11. This was the third meeting in the finals between these two teams on the AVP Nissan Series, with May and Walsh winning each contest. Since making their AVP debut this season, May and Walsh now have a 19-0 match record.

In the semifinals, they defeated fifth seeds Dianne DeNecochea (San Diego, CA) and Nancy Mason (Redondo Beach, CA) 21-19, 21-13.

In the men's final eighth seeds Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, CA) and Larry Witt (Santa Ynez, CA) captured their first win on the AVP Nissan Series by defeating the fourth seeded team of Matt Fuerbringer (Hermosa Beach, CA) and Casey Jennings (Manhattan Beach, CA) 21-17, 21-11, 15-12 in a grueling three game match. This marked the fourth finals appearance for Fuerbringer and Jennings this season.

On the road to the finals Fuerbringer/Jennings defeated 19th seeds Jason Ring (Bend, OR) and Scott Wong (Venice, CA) 21-17, 21-16 in a semifinal match.

The month of August, the AVP Nissan Series will be "live" on NBC beginning with the Manhattan Open, Aug. 7-10, Huntington Open, Aug. 14-17 and the Chicago Open Aug. 28-31st. Both the women's final on Saturday and the men's on Sunday will be televised at 4:30 EST.

Article courtesy of the AVP, home to the USA's best men and women pro beach volleyball players.