Olympics: USA's May & Walsh remain undefeated, Holdren & Metzger lose

Like their American rivals Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs, Misty May and Kerri Walsh have advanced from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Beach Volleyball pool play with a 3-0 record, after downing a team from the Czech Republic on Thursday in Athens, Greece.

With the 21-17 and 21-17 win in 40 minutes over Eva Celbova and Sona Novakova, May and Walsh secured their top-seed in the 16-team women's elimination bracket that starts Friday with the first of two days of opening round play.

The opponents for both women's United States teams will be determined following the final women's pool play match Thursday at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre along with the date and starting time for each match.

One of the two USA men's team in the competition also advanced to the single-elimination bracket as Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger finished as the No. 2 from Pool A. Despite having a 1-2 match mark, Holdren and Metzger's opening win Sunday was the difference as they defeated Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack of Australia, who also finished with a 1-2 mark.

"This was not the best game for us, but we got through it," said Walsh. "It was a tough game. This tournament takes a lot of energy out of you. Give the Eva and Sona a lot of credit for playing steady. We were able to control the action, but lacked any real flow to our game in regard to controlling our ball movement.

McPeak and Youngs advanced from Pool D Wednesday with a 3-0 record by defeating Nicole Schnyder and Simone Kuhn of Switzerland 22-24, 21-17 and 15-12 win in 62 minutes. The Swiss are the 2004 European Champions.

While the women finished with a combined 6-0 pool play mark, the two men's teams from the United States struggled to a 1-5 mark. Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallists Dain Blanton was eliminated Wednesday from the competition after posting a 0-3 pool mark with Jeff Nygaard. Blanton won the 2000 Olympic title with Eric Fonoimoana

Holdren and Metzger ended Pool A play Thursday by losing 21-17 and 21-10 to top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos in 40 minutes. It was the fourth meeting between the two teams with the Brazilian winning the last three, including the gold medal match at the 2003 FIVB World Championships in Rio de Janeiro last October.

"I feel great, they played very well," is how Holdren started his comments about the match. "They made a lot of plays. I did not side out very well tonight and put our team in a hole. Once Emanuel and Ricardo get a lead, they are hard to come back on."

Final USA Olympic Pool Play Results

Saturday, August 14 * Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs def. Susanne Glesnes/Kathrine Maaseide, Norway, 21-14 and 21-14 (38 minutes) * Julien Prosser/Mark Williams, Australia def. Dain Blanton/Jeff Nygaard, 21-16 and 21-14 (42)

Sunday, August 15 * Dax Holdren/Stein Metzger def. Andrew Schacht/Joshua Slack, Australia, 22-24, 24-22 and 15-13 (80) * Misty May/Kerri Walsh def. Chiaki Kusuhara/Ryo Tokuno, Japan, 21-9 and 21-16 (35)

Monday, August 16 * John Child/Mark Heese, Canada def. Blanton/Nygaard, 21-16 and 21-10 (46) * McPeak/Youngs vs. Guylaine Dumont/Annie Martin, Canada, 21-13, 12-21 and 15-9 (47)

Tuesday, August 17 * Iver Horrem/Bjorn Maaseide, Norway def. Holdren/Metzger, 14-21, 21-15 and 16-14 (61) * May/Walsh def. Rebekka Kadijk/Marrit Leenstra, Netherlands, 21-11 and 21-13 (33)

Wednesday, August 18 * Patrick Heuscher/Sefan Kobel, Switzerland def. Blanton/Nygaard, 21-16, 13-21 and 15-13 (55) * McPeak/Youngs def. Nicole Schnyder /Simone Kuhn, Switzerland, 22-24, 21-17 and 15-12 (62)

Thursday August 19 * Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos, Brazil def. Holdren/Metzger, 21-17 and 21-10 (40) * May/Walsh def. Eva Celbova/Sona Novakova, Czech Republic, 21-17 and 21-17 (40)

For more information on Olympic Beach Volleyball, go to the USA Volleyball web site or the FIVB web site.