AVP CHICAGO OPEN ATTRACTS 125 ENTRIES; MEN'S & WOMEN'S QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT TO BE PLAYED THURSDAY ON NORTH AVENUE BEACH
Courtesy Of  Tim Simmons, BFishInc
CHICAGO, ILL. - A total of 125 teams have entered this week's Association of
Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour event as the men's and women's
Qualification Tournaments launches competition here Thursday (August 22) as pro
beach volleyball action returns to the "Windy City."

The sixth of seven events on the AVP Tour starts with Thursday's Qualification
Tournaments Thursday (August 22) followed by three days of Main Draw
competition Friday through Sunday on the North Avenue Beach sand.  The event is
set for a live NBC broadcast featuring both the men's and women's finals Sunday
from 2-4 p.m. (EDT).

The finals of the 24-team women's Main Draw bracket is set for 1 p.m. (CDT)
Saturday as Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs chase their fifth AVP tour title
this season.  The men's championship match will be staged Sunday at 1 p.m. as
NBC will air the finale "live" while showing the "taped" women's title match at
the end of the broadcast.

With Chicago hosting the 20th men's and 11th women's pro beach volleyball
event, the weekend's storylines will feature Karch Kiraly seeking to become a
$3-million career winner while the women's tandem of Holly McPeak and Elaine
Youngs trying to stop their August drought.

Kiraly, who became the winningest pro beach player in history by capturing his
140th title in 1999 with Adam Johnson on North Avenue Beach, has earned nearly
$3-million in his career.  Playing with Brent Doble this season, Kiraly
captured his 143rd title at June's Santa Barbara stop.  Sinjin Smith, who
retired last season, held the mark for career titles (139) before Kiraly's
Chicago win with Johnson.

While Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.) and Doble (Capistrano Valley, Calif.)
compete against a 32-team men's draw field, the top-ranked McPeak (Manhattan
Beach, Calif.) and Youngs (Durango, Colo.) are looking to break an August
drought.  Winners of seven titles in nine May, June and July events, McPeak and
Youngs are winless in August stops in Austria, California and China.

After placing third in Austria where they dropped an August 3 semifinal match
to Misty May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.), McPeak
and Youngs returned to California to see their four-event, 25-match domestic
winning streak snapped in the finals of the Manhattan Beach Open.

Annett Davis (Tarzana, Calif.) and Jenny Johnson Jordan (Tarzana, Calif.), who
placed fifth for the United States at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, scored a
13-21, 23-21 and 15-9 in the 59-minute Manhattan Beach title win (August 11)
over the top-seeded McPeak and Youngs.

While Davis and Johnson Jordan placed third in the first three AVP Tour events
this season, Dianne DeNecochea (San Diego, Calif.) and Barbra Fontana
(Manhattan Beach, Calif.) were losing California title matches to McPeak and
Youngs in Huntington Beach (May 26), Hermosa Beach (June 9) and Santa Barbara
(June 16).

Winners of 21 of 27 matches this season with $48,390 in earnings, Davis and
Johnson Jordan dropped an AVP Tour finale to McPeak and Youngs June 30 in
Belmar, N. J.  Davis and Johnson Jordan have now posted a 211-67 match mark in
46 career events together..  The pair has shared $469,185 in earnings to rank
second domestically and fifth overall.  In pro beach title matches, Davis and
Johnson have posted a 7-10 mark.

After defeating Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia, the Sydney 2000
Olympic Gold Medallists in the semifinals of last Sunday's Chinese Open, McPeak
and Youngs were defeated by May and Walsh in the 51-minute Gold Medal match
12-21, 21-15 and 19-17.  May and Walsh have a 3-1 mark this season against
McPeak and Youngs, who defeated their American rivals in the French Grand Slam
event Gold Medal Match.

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
also captured FIVB Gold Medals in Norway and Greece.

Eric Fonoimoana (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Dax Holdren (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
enter the AVP Chicago Open as the top-ranked men's team with two titles, two
seconds and a fifth to their domestic credit this season.  The pair has won 26
of 30 AVP Tour matches this season with $58,100 in earnings.  Combined with
their six FIVB starts, Fonoimoana and Holdren have a 44-11 match mark this
season with $81,800 in winnings.

While Fonoimoana and Holdren have been the standout domestically, Stein Metzger
(Honolulu, Hi.) and Kevin Wong (Pearl City, Hi.) have paced the United States
men on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.  Metzger and Wong, who have posted
an AVP second and two thirds this season, have three podium placements
international with a Gold Medal finish July 28 in Portugal.

Metzger and Wong have posted a 44-17 match mark this season with $89,850 in
shared earnings.  On the AVP Tour, Metzger and Wong have won 18 of 27 domestic
matches with $27,450 in winnings.  The pair placed 17th in the Manhattan Beach
Open for their lowest AVP Tour the past two season.

Canyon Ceman (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Mike Whitmarsh (San Diego, Calif.)
have played in three AVP Tour finals this season against Fonoimoana and
Holdren.  Ceman and Whitmarsh, winners of 21 of 27 domestic matches this season
with $42,670 in winnings, dropped the Huntington and Manhattan finales and won
the Belmar title match.

Joining the list of men's winners on the 2002 AVP Tour are Albert Hannemann
(Torrance, Calif.) and Jeff Nygaard (Los Angeles, Calif.).  Hanneman and Nygaad
captured the second stop in Hermosa Beach (June 9) by outlasting Metzger and
Wong (Pearl City, Hi.) 18-21, 29-27 and 27-25 in 100 minutes.  Since winning in
Hermosa, Hannemann and Nygaard have placed ninth, ninth and 13th while winning
only six of 12 matches.  The pair had won nine of their first 11 matches this
season.

The last pro beach event in Chicago was prior to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
where Brazil's Jose Loiola and Emanuel Rego won the men's FIVB Beach Volleyball
World Tour event on Montrose Beach.  Two days later on July 4th, McPeak and May
captured the women's international title by defeating the top-ranked Adriana
Behar and Shelda Bede in the Gold Medal match.

The Chicago event will also determine the top eight men's and women's teams for
the AVP Tour's season finale at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.
(September 5-7).  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).