USA claims gold and silver at FIVB China beach volleyball tourney

For the third-time in four FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour meetings this season, Misty May and Kerri Walsh proved to be the top United States team on foreign sand by defeating Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs in the Chinese Open finals in Maoming, China on Sunday, August 18, 2002.

The second-seeded May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) came back from a 12-21 setback in the first set to defeat top-seeded McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Youngs (Durango, Colo.) 21-15 and 19-17 in the 51-minute All-American gold medal match.

Sunday's title marked the second time this season that a FIVB title capped a "birthday" weekend for May and Walsh. The top podium placement highlighted Walsh's weekend as she celebrated her 24th birthday Thursday. May had celebrated her 25th birthday on the Tuesday (July 30) prior to her team's gold medal finish at the Austrian Grand Slam event in Klagenfurt August 3. "This was so exciting. We can not believe it!" said May after the match.

With their fifth FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medals around their necks, May and Walsh split the $22,500 first-place prize. The win was also the seventh pro beach title for May and Walsh, including the sixth on the international circuit. May has now captured 12 pro beach crowns with five coming with McPeak in 2000 when the pair finished fifth at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. All of Walsh's titles have been with May as the partnership nears the end of its second season together.

"We know that we can win and a silver medal will never satisfy us," said McPeak as she and her partner shared $15,000 for placing second. After winning titles in seven of their first nine pro beach events this season, McPeak and Youngs have finished third and second twice in their last three tournaments.

Annett Davis (Tarzana, Calif.) and Jenny Johnson Jordan (Tarzana, Calif.) also rallied from a one-set deficit to defeat McPeak and Youngs (13-21, 23-21 and 15-9 in last weekend's Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Manhattan Beach Open. Davis and Johnson Jordan, who placed fifth at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, snapped McPeak and Youngs' four-event, 25-match domestic winning streaks.

Sunday's title match marked the ninth-time in 91 women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour "open" events where two teams from the United States competed for a Gold Medal. The United States has now won eight of the nine titles on the 2002 international circuit as McPeak and Youngs claimed the other three FIVB gold medals.

McPeak and Youngs defeated May and Walsh 21-17 and 21-12 in the 39-minute gold medal match in France last month (July 20). Prior to Sunday's win, May and Walsh had downed their American rivals this season in the semifinal three-setters at Canada (July 13) and Austria (August 3).

May and Walsh earned their spot in the finals by defeating third-seeded Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil 21-16, 20-22 and 15-12 in 53 minutes. The win improved May and Walsh's mark against the two-time FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champions to 6-4, including 5-1 this season.

McPeak and Youngs advanced to the Chinese Open title match with a 17-21, 21-18 and 15-12 win in 55 minutes over fifth-seeded Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Gold Medallists. It was the fourth-straight win for the Americans this season over Cook and Pottharst after the Aussies defeated McPeak and Youngs in June's Swiss Open quarterfinals.

After placing ninth in the past two FIVB stops in Austria and Japan, Cook and Pottharst claimed their sixth medal of the 2002 season (four bronzes and two silvers) by defeating long-time rivals Behar and Bede 21-17 and 22-20 in 40 minutes. Cook and Pottharst, who shared $11,940 for third-place, have now won six of the last 11 meetings between the Sydney finalists to trail in the overall series 17-8.

With two Americans teams claiming the top two podium spots in the fifth annual Chinese Open, the United States has now earned a medal(s) in 11-straight FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events. Sunday's gold was the United States 39th on the women's FIVB Tour. Brazil (49) and Australia (3) are the only other countries to claim women's FIVB gold medals.

The medal streak is tied for the second longest for USA pro beach teams on the international circuit and matches the string of podium finishes for Americans from August 15, 1999 to July 29, 2000. The record streak for USA tandems is 20-straight podium placements from when FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour was launched for women in August 1992 through November 19, 1995.

Winners of FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events in Spain, Switzerland, Canada and Austria this season, May and Walsh lead the international rankings with earnings ($165,140), points (2,530) and match wins (54 with six defeats). Nearing the end of their second-season on the beach together, May and Walsh have now posted a 95-21 match mark with $276,890 in winnings.

McPeak and Youngs sport the best match winning percentage (43-4, .915) on the 2002 FIVB Tour enroute to winning $124,515 internationally. Overall, McPeak and Youngs are 68-5 this season with $199,415 in shared earnings. The pair won four domestic titles this season before capturing FIVB gold medals in Norway, France and Greece.

Behar and Bede suffered their first Chinese Open defeats Sunday after winning 23-straight matches in the country. The Brazilians had won the China gold in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Behar and Bede were seeking their 11th FIVB Asian gold medal as the pair has now won 80 of 86 matches in 14 Far East tournaments. The Brazilians now have a 46-10 match mark this season.

In 69 overall career starts, the Behar/Bede partnership have netted $1,399,016 in combined earnings. The Brazilians are the winningest men's and women's team ever on the FIVB Tour with 28 titles (including the 1999 Pan American Games) and $1,375,415 in 66-plus international starts.

Cook and Pottharst continued their success against Behar and Bede in Pacific Rim competition. The Aussies won gold medal matches against Behar and Bede in Sydney and Macau (the 2001 FIVB season opener) enroute to a 4-4 record against the Brazilians in the Pacific Rim tournaments. A two-time Olympic medallists with a Bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games, Cook and Pottharst placed third in the 2001 Chinese Open.

All three of Cook and Pottharst's FIVB gold medals have been in Pacific Rim events as the pair defeated Danalee Bragado and Pat Keller of the United States for the 1996 Japanese Open crown that followed the Atlanta Games. Cook and Pottharst were playing in their 63rd pro beach event together with $580,970 in winnings (third all-time behind Behar/Bede and Lisa Arce/McPeak). In terms of tournaments played, the Cook/Pottharst partnership ranks behind Gail Castro/Lori Forsythe (74) and Behar/Bede (69).

While McPeak/Youngs and May/Walsh were competing for a gold medal, the American teams of eighth-seeded Dianne DeNecochea/Barbra Fontana and 23rd-seeded Bragado/Ali Wood were placing ninth in the Chinese Open after advancing to the 16-team elimination rounds Saturday. Both teams shared $3,900.

With Americans winning all four of their pool play matches Saturday morning, the United States improved its record for preliminary main draw matches to 81-21 this season. The McPeak/Youngs (21-0) and May/Walsh (26-1) tandems have combined to win 47 of 48 pool play matches in nine FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events. Fontana and DeNecochea are now 15-6 in pool play with Bragado and Wood 3-3.

Led by a 90.6 winning percentage by the top two teams (97-10) on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, eight United States teams have posted a 75.6 winning percentage in Main Draws this season (136-44). The mark includes a 34-16 record in elimination matches, 10-4 in semifinals and 11-3 in medal matches. Five Brazilian teams have combined to win 74.6 percent of their main draw matches this season (74.6) while four Australian tandems sport a 80-53 mark (60.2).

With the May/Walsh and McPeak/Youngs tandems leading the way, the United States has collected 13 FIVB medals this season, including two Silver and three Bronze. Brazil has compiled seven medals (one gold, five silver and one bronze). Cook and Pottharst have teamed to collect Australia's six medals this year and Vassiliki Karadassiou and Efrosyni Sfyri captured Greece's first-ever FIVB beach medal by placing third in the Rhodes event.

With the teams of McPeak/Youngs, DeNecochea/Fontana and Carrie Busch/Leanne Schuster missing last week's Japanese Open in Osaka, the United States was nearly back at full-strength for this week's international stop, the second of two women's Asian events. Behar and Bede snapped America's streak of seven-straight FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medal finishes this season by winning their fifth straight Osaka title.

DeNecochea and Fontana placed fifth in Manhattan Beach after dropping their final two matches to the teams of McPeak/Youngs and Busch (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)/Schuster (Manhattan Beach, Calif.). With Schuster finalizing her marriage plans this week, the Busch/Schuster partnership can not improve on their 14-11 FIVB pool play mark.

The land of the bicycle was hosting an international event for the fifth time this year and for the second-straight season in Maoming. Known as the biggest production base of fruit in China, especially for the famous litchis and bananas, Maoming is a city with some 6.5-million inhabitants.

The first three Chinese Opens were held in Dalian where Behar and Bede captured the first two Gold Medals in 1998 and 1999. The 2000 Dalian event proved decisive for May and McPeak as they qualified for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games despite losing the gold medal match to Liz Masakayan (San Diego, Calif.) and Youngs.

In an All-Brazilian 2001 Maoming finale, Behar and Bede defeated Tatiana Minello and Sandra Pires 21-18, 18-21 and 17-15 in the 66-minute gold medal match last year (August 19). Behar and Bede defeated Ana Paula Connelly and Tatiana Minello 21-17, 14-21 and 18-16 in last Sunday's 56-minute All-Brazilian gold medal match.

The 2002 women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour concludes in September with events in Spain (Mallorca, 3-7) and Brazil (Vitoria, 17-22). The men's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour concludes with stops in Spain (September 4-8 in Mallorca) and Brazil (October 1-6 in Fortaleza). The AVP Tour concludes for both men and women with events in Chicago, Ill. (August 23-25) and Las Vegas, Nev. (September 4-7).

Chinese Open Gold Medallists

1998 at Dalian: Adriana Behar/Shelda Bede, Brazil 1999 at Dalian: Behar/ Bede, Brazil 2000 at Dalian: Liz Masakayan/Elaine Youngs, United States 2001 at Maoming: Behar/Bede, Brazil 2002 at Maoming: Misty May/Kerri Walsh, United States

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