AVP HERMOSA BEACH EVENT CONCLUDES SUNDAY;TOP EIGHT WOMEN'S TEAMS STAY ALIVE WHILE THIRD- & EIGHTH-SEEDED MEN'S TEAMS ELIMINATED
By Tim Simmons
HERMOSA BEACH, CALIF. - With the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour's women
season opening in Europe this weekend, the Association of Volleyball
Professionals (AVP) is staging its second of seven 2002 stops at The Pier as
the $150,000 event is part of the Mervyn's Beach Bash.
While Misty May and Kerry Walsh represented the United States at the FIVB event
in Madrid, Spain; the other top American teams began competing Saturday (June
8) in the AVP Hermosa Beach Open, presented by Michelob Light.  The three-day
domestic stop concludes Sunday as the event featured a 32-team men's and
24-team women's Main Draw.
May and Walsh have advanced to the semifinals in the FIVB event after upsetting
top-seeded Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil 21-17 and 21-14 in the
first-round of the 16-team elimination bracket.  The second-seeded May and
Walsh face 29th-seeded Alexandra Fonseca and Mônica Rodrigues of Brazil in
Sunday's second semifinal match.
Sunday's first semifinal match features third-seeded Natalie Cook and Kerri
Pottharst of Australia to 18th-seeded Ana Paula and Minello of Brazil.  Cook
and Pottharst, who captured the 2001 FIVB season opener in Macau, are the
Sydney 2000 Olympic Gold Medallists where they defeat Behar and Bede in the
finals.
Led by Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs, the top eight women's teams advanced as
expected to Sunday's final rounds.  The top-seeded McPeak and Youngs will be
seeking their second AVP Tour title this season after winning the season opener
May 26 in Huntington Beach, Calif., by defeating Dianne DeNecochea and Barbra
Fontana in the 69-minuted final ( 21-18, 20-22 and 15-9).
Saturday's men's AVP play was highlighted by the advancements of ninth-seeded
Eduardo Bacil and Fred Souza, and 17th-seeded Casey Jennings and Brad Torsone,
who eliminated third-seeded Canyon Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh 26-28, 21-13 and
15-9 in Saturday's final match.  Ceman and Whitmarsh finished second in the
Huntington Beach opener by losing 21-18 and 21-14 to Eric Fonoimoana and Dax
Holdren in the title match.
Bacil and Souza used a 21-17 and 21-15 win over eighth-seeded Mike Lambert and
Lee LeGrande earlier Saturday.  Despite losing 21-18, 15-21 and 15-10 to
top-seeded Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong, Bacil and Souza earned a spot in
Sunday's final eight with a 21-17 and 21-19 win over 11th-seeded Sean Rosenthal
and MarkWilliams.
Joining Metzger and Wong with 3-0 records after Saturday's men's play are
fifth-seeded Scott Ayakatubby and Brian Lewis, sixth-seeded Albert Hannemann
and Jeff Nygaard, and seventh-seeded Brent Doble and Karch Kiraly, the 1996
Atlanta Olympic Games beach volleyball Gold Medallist.
Doble and Kiraly scored Saturday's biggest upset when they defeated the
second-seeded Fonoimoana and Holdren 19-21, 21-13 and 21-11 to advance to a
Sunday morning meeting against Hannemann and Nygaard, who handed Ceman and
Whitmarsh their first defeat Saturday (18-21, 21-19 and 15-12).  Metzger and
Wong, who won the last two AVP stops last season, will face Ayakatubby and
Lewis in the other battle of Hermosa Beach unbeatens Sunday morning.
Sunday's opening men's elimination matches will have fourth-seeded Todd Rogers
and Sean Scott (4) playing Bacil and Souza while Fonoimoana and Holdren will be
facing Jennings and Torsone.  Rogers and Holdren will be competing for their
second-straight Hermosa title as the pair teamed last season to win the
Mervyn's Beach Bash by defeating Fonoimoana and Dain Blanton in the
championship match.
Saturday's only surprise in the women's play had fifth-seeded Carrie Busch and
Leanne Schuster defeating fourth-seeded Lisa Arce and Linda Hanley 23-21 and
21-17.  Arce and Hanley, who celebrated a birthday Saturday along with Jenny
Johnson Jordan, rebounded to gain a Sunday elimination berth by defeating
18th-seeded Ashley Bowles and Liz Masakayan  21-16, 20-22 and 15-10.
Sunday's women's play opens with the battle of unbeatens as McPeak and Youngs
play Busch and Schuster while third-seeded Annett Davis and Johnson Jordan
challenge second-seeded Dianne DeNecochea and Barbra Fontana.  McPeak and Arce
will be seeking their second-straight Hermosa crown as the pair teamed last
season to defeat Youngs and Fontana in the title match.
Arce and Hanley play eighth-seeded Stephanie Cox and Jen Holdren (Dax's wife)
and sixth-seeded Danalee Bragado and Rachel Wacholder face seventh-seeded Katy
Eldridge and Jennifer Meredith.  The Holdrens will be seeking to become the
first husband/wife tandem to win a pro beach title on the same day since the
Dodds (Mike and Patty) accomplished the feat in 1989 (May 6-7, June 17-18, July
23 and July 30).
Davis and Johnson Jordan, who teamed to place fifth at the Sydney 2000 Olympic
Games, missed the 2001 as they both gave birth to their first child.  Davis had
her son in June and Johnson Jordan her daughter in October.  The pair placed
third in the Huntington Beach opener.
Sunday's play begins at 8 a.m.  The women's championship match set for
approximately 2 p.m. followed by the men's final match.  Sunday's winning teams
will share the $17,400 first-place prize for each gender.