DAVIS & JOHNSON JORDAN CAPTURE WOMEN'S CHICAGO PRO BEACH
VOLLEYBALL TITLE MATCH;MEN'S MAIN DRAW CONTINUES SATURDAY ON NORTH AVENUE
BEACH
Courtesy Of Tim Simmons, BFishInc
CHICAGO, ILL. - For the second-straight event, Annett Davis and Jenny
Johnson
Jordan upset top-seeded Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs to capture
the women's
title here Saturday (August 24) at the $150,000 AVP Nissan US Championships
of
Beach Volleyball.
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
concluded Saturday with the second-seeded Davis (Tarzana, Calif.)
and Johnson
Jordan (Tarzana, Calif.) sharing the $17,400 first-place prize.
The women's
title match was 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.
Competing in their 47th pro beach event together, Davis and Johnson
Jordan
rallied from a first set loss (19-21) to defeat McPeak and Youngs
21-16 and
18-16 in the 65-minute championship match. McPeak and Youngs
led 8-4 in the
deciding set. It marked the second straight Association of
Volleyball
Professionals (AVP) Tour stop where Davis and Johnson Jordan defeated
McPeak
(Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Youngs (Durango, Colo.) for a domestic
title.
Davis and Johnson, who have won two of five meetings with the top-ranked
AVP
women's team, 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.
Winners of 26 of 32 matches this season with $ $65,790 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 216-67
match mark in
47 career events together. The pair has shared $487,366 in
earnings to rank
second domestically behind McPeak and Lisa Arce's $628,650 partnership
total.
Davis and Johnson, who missed the 2001 season to give birth to their
first
children, have now won back-to-back event titles for the second time
in their
pro beach careers. The pair captured two straight titles in
May 2000 as Davis
and Johnson prepared for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games where they
placed fifth
for the United States. Saturday's title was the eighth for
the Davis/Johnson
Jordan partnership.
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).
With both teams winning twice each Saturday morning, McPeak and Youngs
advanced
to their sixth-straight Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP)
Tour
finale this season while Davis and Johnson Jordan were playing in
their
third-straight domestic title match. For placing second, McPeak
and Youngs
shared $11,700.
Davis and Johnson Jordan earned their spot in the finale by defeating
sixth-seeded Dianne DeNecochea (San Diego, Calif.) and Barbra Fontana
(Manhattan Beach, Calif.) 21-17 and 21-15 and third-seeded Carrie
Busch
(Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Leanne Schuster (Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
21-13 and
21-17 in the semifinals.
McPeak and Youngs advanced to Saturday's title match by defeating
fourth-seeded
Arce (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Linda Hanley (Pacific Palisades,
Calif.)
21-14 and 21-19 and fifth-seeded Nancy Mason (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
and Rachel
Wacholder (El Segundo, Calif.) 21-11 and 21-16 in the semifinals.
McPeak and Youngs, who won seven of their first nine events this
season, have
now placed third, second, second and second in four August tournaments.
Winners of 29 of 31 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 72 of 77 matches in 2002 with international titles
in Norway,
France and Greece. McPeak and Youngs have now combined to earn
$96,600 on the
AVP Tour this season and $221,115 pro beach volleyball events in
2002.
McPeak and Youngs' other four 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.
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.
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).