U. S. OLYMPIANS FONOIMOANA & HEIDGER NET UPSET WIN AT MICHELOB LIGHT OPEN;FONTANA & YOUNGS PROTECT TOP SEED AT MANHATTAN BEACH EVENT
MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. - Eighth-seeded Eric Fonoimoana and Rob Heidger posted three-straight wins here Saturday (August 25), including an upset victory over
the top-seeded men's team, to advance unbeaten to Sunday's final rounds of the
$150,000 Michelob Light Manhattan Beach Open on the sand courts south of The
Pier.While Fonoimoana, who won the Gold Medal with Dain Blanton at the Sydney 2000
Olympic Games, and Heidger were winning Saturday, Barbra Fontana and Elaine
Youngs protected their top seed in the women's competition with a pair of wins
to advance to Sunday's opening matches at 7:30 a.m. (PDT).
Fonoimoana and Heidger, who placed fifth in Sydney with Kevin Wong after being
eliminated by Blanton and Fonoimoana, advanced to Sunday's opening match with a
28-26 and 21-16 win over top-seeded Dax Holdren and Todd Rogers in 59 minutes.
Fonoimoana and Heidger face fifth-seeded Stein Metzger and Wong early Sunday
morning.With Blanton sidelined with a severe muscle injury, Fonoimoana, and Heidger
will represent the AVP in the Goodwill Games August 29-September 4 in Brisbane,
Australia along with Metzger and Wong.  The women's teams of Fontana/Youngs and
Lisa Arce/Holly McPeak will also be playing third annual beach competition at
the Goodwill Games.Metzger and Wong, who won last week's Association of Volleyball Professionals(AVP) event in Santa Barbara, Calif., advanced to Sunday's opening match with a 21-19, 19-21 and 16-14 win over fourth-seeded Brent Doble and Lee LeGrande in
81 minutes.  Doble and LeGrande had won AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour events in
Muskegon, Mich., and Belmar, N. J.
Sunday's other opening winner's bracket match will have third-seeded Canyon
Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh facing 15th-seeded Matt Fuerbringer and David Swatik,
who advanced to Sunday's matches with two upset wins over second-seeded Albert
Hannemann and Sean Scott (10-21, 21-15 and 15-10) and 10th-seeded Ian Clark and
Adam Jewell (21-16, 21-23 and 15-12).
Fifth-seeded Dianne DeNecochea and Liz Masakayan will play Fontana and Youngs
in Sunday's first women's winner's bracket match.  Arce and McPeak face
sixth-seeded Jennifer Meredith and Wendy Stammer in the other battle of
unbeatens.  DeNecochea and Masakayan defeated Meredith and Stammer in last
week's Santa Barbara title match.
Other men's teams in contention for Sunday's title are Holdren/Rogers,
second-seeded Albert Hannemann/Sean Scott, 10th-seeded Ian Clark/Adam Jewell
(10) and 17th-seeded Eduardo Bacil/Mike Lambert.  Other women's teams remaining
in the competition for The Michelob Light Manhattan Beach Open are
fourth-seeded Linda Hanley/Sarah Straton, eighth-seeded Stephanie Cox/Katy
Eldridge, ninth-seeded Danalee Bragado/Ali Wood and 10th-seeded Jen
Pavley/Carrie Wendell.
Sunday's final matches will begin approximately at 1 p.m. with the final two
teams in each gender battling for the $17,400 first-place prizes.  Echo
Entertainment of Studio City, Calif., will be taping the Michelob Light Open at
Manhattan Beach action for broadcast September 3 on FOX Sports Net.
In addition to the teams battling for the 2001 Michelob Light Manhattan Beach
Open titles, Sunday's final round will feature the battle for the "Michelob
Light California Swing" Awards.  Sunday's play will also determine the berths
in the season-ending Paul Mitchell King and Queen of the Beach event in Las
Vegas (September 6-9) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
The "Michelob Light California Swing" title will be awarded to the individual
male and female players who earn the most total ranking points during 2001
California AVP Tour events.  The top male player will receive $10,000 (for four
California events) and the top female player will receive $7,500 (for three
California events).  Winners will be announced immediately following the
Michelob Light Open at Manhattan Beach championship matches Sunday
Ceman and Whitmarsh have earned 678 "Michelob Light California Swing" points
for the first three men's events at Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach and Santa
Barbara.  Ceman and Whitmarsh have placed ninth in Hermosa, second in
Huntington and third in Santa Barbara in their three "Michelob Light California
Swing" events.Fontana and Youngs used a victory over Arce and McPeak in last Sunday's
third-place match at Santa Barbara to gain the lead in the women's competition.
 Fontana and Youngs have 506 points each while Arce and McPeak have 502 points.
Arce and McPeak defeated Fontana and Youngs for the first women's event title
at June's AVP's Hermosa Beach stop.The 10th annual King and fifth annual Queen of the Beach competitions will feature the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tours' top players.  The top 14 men and top 14 women players will be determined based on their top three finishes on
this year's AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour.  The points earned from these
finishes will be totaled to determine a player's King and Queen of the Beach
ranking.  A player must compete in three AVP events to be eligible for King and
Queen of the Beach competition.  The domestic event in Clearwater will also be
used in determining the women's Queen of the Beach rankings.