TOP-SEEDED FONOIMOANA & HOLDREN CAPTURE MEN'S MANHATTAN BEACH CROWN; DAVIS & JOHNSON JORDAN SCORE UPSET PRO BEACH VOLLEYBALL WIN TO NET SEVENTH TITLE
Courtesy Of Tim Simmons
MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. - Top-seeded Eric Fonoimoana and Dax Holdren became the
first two-time winner on the 2002 Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour
by defeating fourth-seeded Canyon Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh in the finals here
Sunday (August 11) at the AVP 2002 Michelob Light Manhattan Beach Open.

With Fonoimoana and Holdren's 21-15 and 21-18 title win in 60 minutes the final
match in the $175,000 Michelob Light Manhattan Beach Open, the women finished
play Saturday with second-seeded Annett Davis (Tarzana, Calif.) and Jenny
Johnson Jordan (Tarzana, Calif.) claiming the $20,000 first-place prize.

Davis and Johnson Jordan, who missed the 2001 season to give birth to their
first children, upset top-seeded Holly McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and
Elaine Youngs (Durango, Colo.) 13-21, 23-21 and 15-9 in 59 minutes for the
title.  It was the seventh career pro beach title for Davis and Johnson Jordan.

The men's final for the $175,000 event was televised "live" Sunday by NBC,
which will also air the AVP Tour's Chicago stop August 25.  Davis and Johnson
Jordan's title win from Saturday was taped and was aired following the men's
championship match.  The men's title match was the fourth meeting between the
two teams with Fonoimoana and Holdren now holding a 3-1 edge, including 2-1 in
championship matches this season.

Sunday's title was the second for the Fonoimoana/Holdren partnership as the
pair captured the 2002 AVP Tour season opener in Huntington Beach, Calif. (May
26) when they defeated Ceman and Whitmarsh in the championship match.
Fonoimoana has nine career pro beach titles and Holdren 10. 

With Sunday's $20,000 first-place prize, Fonoimoana and Holdren have now shared
$58,200 for five AVP stops this season with a 26-4 domestic match mark.
Combined with their play on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Fonoimoana
and Holdren have a 44-11 match mark with $81,800 in earnings for 11 events.

Fonoimoana (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Holdren (Santa Barbara, Calif.) advanced
to their fourth AVP Tour title match this season by defeating fifth-seeded
Eduardo Bacil (El Segundo, Calif.) and Fred Souzo (Rio de Janerio, Brazil)
21-17 and 21-18 in a 47-minute semifinal match.  It was the second win for
Fonoimoana and Holdren in two meetings against Bacil and Souza.

Ceman and Whitmarsh, who shared $14,000 for second-place, earned a spot in
their third 2002 AVP final by ousting second-seeded Karch Kiraly (San Clemente,
Calif.) and Brent Doble (Capistrano Beach, Calif.) 21-14, 17-21 and 15-13 in 73
minutes.  It was the fourth-straight win this season by Ceman and Whitmarsh
over Kiraly and Doble, including semifinal wins earlier this season in
Huntington Beach, Calif., and Belmar, N. J.

Sunday's title match also featured Olympic beach volleyball medallists.
Fonoimoana teamed with Dain Blanton to capture the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
title.  Whitmarsh earned the Silver Medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games with Mike
Dodd as the pair dropped the finale to Kiraly and Kent Steffes in the
All-United States match.

Kiraly and Doble captured the third 2002 AVP Tour stop in Santa Barbara, Calif.
(June 16) before Ceman and Whitmarsh won the last men's event in Belmar, N. J.
(June 30) as both teams defeated Fonoimoana and Holdren in the finals of each
event.  Whitmarsh, a former Manhattan Beach men's winner with a 1999 title with
David Swatik, has captured 28 pro beach titles.

Third-seeded Stein Metzger (Honolulu, Hi.) and Kevin Wong (Pearl City, Hi.),
the defending Manhattan Beach men's champions, dropped an elimination match
Saturday to 20th-seeded Jake Elliott (Isle of Palms, S.C.) and Brian Soldano
(Isle of Palms, S. C.)  (21-19, 15-21 and 15-13 in 66 minutes) to place 17th
this weekend.

Metzger and Wong had been the top performing United States tandem on the FIVB
Beach Volleyball World Tour.  Metzger and Wong collected Bronze Medals for
finishes in Switzerland and Norway before winning the Portugal Open (July 28)
to snap a streak of 14-straight Gold Medal placements for teams from South
American.

Prior to the next AVP women's event in Chicago (August 23-25), the teams of
McPeak/Youngs and Dianne DeNecochea (San Diego, Calif.)/Barbra Fontana
(Manhattan Beach, Calif.) will join two other United States teams this week for
a FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in China (August 14-18). The 2002
women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour concludes in September with events in
Spain (Mallorca, 3-7) and Brazil (Vitoria, 17-22).

Misty May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) captured the
Bronze medal Sunday at the women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in
Osaka, Japan where Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede claimed the Gold Medal by
defeating Ana Paula Connolly and Tatiana Minello in the All-Brazilian finale.
Danalee Bragado (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Ali Wood (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
placed 17th in the ninth annual Japanese Open.  Both teams will be in China.

The men's international tour staged an event this weekend in Cadiz, Spain,
where the Swiss brothers Laciga (Martin and Paul ) defeated Jody Holden and
Conrad Leinmann of Canada for the Gold Medal Sunday.  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 September 5-8 in Las Vegas, Nev.