TOP-SEEDED MCPEAK & YOUNGS LEAD FIELD IN AVP CHICAGO OPEN;
MEN'S MAIN DRAW CONTINUES SATURDAY ON NORTH AVENUE BEACH
Courtesy Of  Tim Simmons, BFishInc
CHICAGO, ILL. - Top-seeded Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs won as expected here
Friday (August 23) during the opening women's Main Draw rounds in the $150,000
AVP Nissan US Championships of Beach Volleyball presented by Xbox.

The sixth of seven events on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP)
Tour, the AVP Nissan US Championships of Beach Volleyball also features men's
competition on North Avenue Beach.  The 24-team women's Main Draw bracket
concludes Saturday with a 1 p.m. (CDT) championship match where the winning
team will split $17,400 for first-place.  The women's title match will be taped
for NBC's national telecast Sunday from 2-4 p.m. (EDT).  The men's title match
will be aired "live" followed by the women's finale.

The two Friday wins by McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Youngs (Durango,
Colo.) put the top-ranked team on the 2002 AVP Tour in position to stop an
August drought.  McPeak and Youngs, who won seven of their first nine events
this season, have placed third, second and second in three tournaments this
month.

Winners of 27 of 28 AVP Tour matches in 2002, McPeak and Youngs captured titles
earlier this season in May (one), June (three) and July (three).  Combined with
their efforts on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, McPeak and Youngs have
won 70 of 74 matches in 2002 with international titles in Norway, France and
Greece.

McPeak and Youngs advanced to Saturday's play where they face fourth-seeded
Lisa Arce (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Linda Hanley (Pacific Palisades,
Calif.) in a morning match to determine a spot in the semifinals.  Sixth-seeded
Dianne DeNecochea (San Diego, Calif.) and Barbra Fontana (Manhattan Beach,
Calif.) challenge second-seeded Annett Davis (Tarzana, Calif.) and Jenny
Johnson Jordan (Tarzana, Calif.) for the second semifinal berth.

Four other women's teams remain in contention for the "Windy City" title
despite losing one match each Friday.  Fifth-seeded Nancy Mason (Hermosa Beach,
Calif.) and Rachel Wacholder (El Segundo, Calif.) play ninth-seeded Danalee
Bragado (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Ali Wood (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) while
seventh-seeded Katy Eldridge (Los Gatos, Calif.) and Jennifer Meredith
(Manhattan Beach, Calif.) challenge third-seeded Carrie Busch (Hermosa Beach,
Calif.) and Leanne Schuster (Manhattan Beach, Calif.).

Davis and Johnson became one of three teams to defeat McPeak and Youngs this
season by defeating the AVP Tour's top-ranked team 13-21, 23-21 and 15-9 in the
59-minute Manhattan Beach finale (August 11).  The Southern California win for
Davis and Johnson Jordan snapped McPeak and Youngs' four-event, 25-match
domestic winning streak.

McPeak and Youngs four other defeats this season have been on the FIVB Beach
Volleyball World Tour to United States rivals Misty May/Kerri Walsh and 2000
Sydney Olympic Gold Medallists Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia.
McPeak and Youngs are 1-3 against May and Walsh this season and 4-1 against
Cook and Pottharst.

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

Winners of 23 of 29 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 213-67 match mark in
46 career events together.  The pair has shared $469,185 in earnings to rank
second domestically and fifth overall.

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

After defeating Cook and Pottharst 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.  McPeak and Youngs defeated May and Walsh
in July's French Grand Slam event Gold Medal Match.

With Chicago hosting the 20th men's and 11th women's pro beach volleyball
event, the men's competition features Karch Kiraly's effort to become a
$3-million career winner while Eric Fonoimoana and Dax Holdren seek their third
AVP Tour title this season.  Both the Kiraly/Brent Doble and Fonoimoana/Holdren
won their opening matches Friday.

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 Doble (Capistrano Beach, Calif.) this
season, Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.) 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.

Fonoimoana (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and 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 now won 28 of
32 AVP Tour matches this season with $58,100 in earnings.  Combined with their
six FIVB starts, Fonoimoana and Holdren have a 46-11 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, who split a pair of matches Friday, have posted a 45-18 match
mark this season with $89,850 in shared earnings.  On the AVP Tour, Metzger and
Wong have won 19 of 28 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.),
who have played in three AVP Tour finals this season against Fonoimoana and
Holdren, also won two matches Friday.  Ceman and Whitmarsh, winners of 23 of 29
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 eight of 14 matches.  The pair had won nine of their
first 11 matches this season.  Hannemann and Nygaard won both of their matches
Friday and face Fonoimoana and Holdren Saturday morning.

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