FONOIMOANA & HOLDREN CLAIM THIRD 2002 AVP TITLE;
TOP-RANKED MEN'S TEAM DEFEATS BACIL & SOUZA FOR $17,400 FIRST-PLACE PRIZE; DAVIS & JOHNSON JORDAN CAPTURE WOMEN'S CHICAGO PRO BEACH VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Courtesy Of  Tim Simmons, BFishInc
CHICAGO, ILL. - Top-seeded Eric Fonoimoana and Dax Holdren won a pair of
matches here Sunday (August 25) to extend their domestic pro beach volleyball
winning streak to 12 by defeating Eduardo Bacil and Fred Souza in the men's
championship match of the $150,000 AVP Nissan US Championships of Beach
Volleyball.

The AVP Nissan US Championships of Beach Volleyball also featured women's
competition on North Avenue Beach where second-seeded Annett Davis (Tarzana,
Calif.) and Jenny Johnson Jordan (Tarzana, Calif.) shared the $17,400
first-place prize.  Saturday's women's title match was taped for NBC's national
telecast Sunday from 2-4 p.m. (EDT).  The men's title match was aired "live"
followed by the women's finale.

In defeating Bacil and Souza 21-18 and 21-16 for the third-time this season on
the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour, Fonoimoana and Holdren
also shared $17,400 for first-place in capturing their second-straight domestic
title and three AVP crown this season.  Fonoimoana and Holdren had also won
Southern California AVP titles in Huntington Beach (May 26) and Manhattan Beach
(August 11).

The 53-minute title match was the first-ever for the Bacil/Souza partnership as
the pair had previously posted five third-place finishes on the AVP Tour,
including three this season at Hermosa Beach, Santa Barbara and Manhattan
Beach. Bacil (El Segundo, Calif.) and Souza (Rio de Janerio, Brazil) shared
$11,700.

Fonoimoana (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Holdren (Santa Barbara, Calif.) have now
won 32 of 36 AVP Tour matches this season with $85,600 in earnings.  Combined
with their six FIVB starts, Fonoimoana and Holdren have a 50-11 match mark this
season with $109,200 in winnings.

Bacil and Souza have now shared $42,120 on the AVP Tour this season with a
27-12 match mark. Bacil entered the title match with two AVP titles with
Souza's only championship a 1998 FIVB Beach Volleyball Challenger title with
Jan Ferreira in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Sunday's title was the 11th for Holdren and 10th for Fonoimoana in their pro
beach career.  The Chicago title was the second for Holdren, who captured the
2000 title with Todd Rogers when they defeated Brazilian Olympians Jose Loiola
and Emanuel Rego in the "Windy City" finale.  Fonoimoana, who was banned from
playing in the 2000 Chicago event with Dain Blanton, placed third in the 1999
North Avenue Beach with his Olympic partner.  Bacil and Souza were ninth in the
2000 Chicago event.

Sunday's title also earned Fonoimoana and Holdren the distinction as the first
United States team to win three AVP titles in a season since 1999 when the
teams Adam Johnson/Karch Kiraly (four titles) and David Swatik/Mike Whitmarsh
(three titles).  Loiola and Emanuel were the last non-American team to capture
three AVP titles in a season with 2000 crowns on Southern California beach in
Hermosa Beach, Seal Beach and Manhattan Beach prior to the Sydney Olympics.

Fonoimoana and Holdren advance to the finals with a 21-18 and 21-19 semifinal
win over 15th-seeded Carl Henkel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Casey Jennings
(Manhattan Beach, Calif.).  Henkel and Jennings were each playing in their
first AVP Tour "final four."  Jennings also posted his best pro beach finish
with a previous best of seventh earlier this season in Hermosa Beach with Brad
Torsone.

Bacil and Souza scored a pair of wins Sunday morning to reach the finals by
defeating fourth-seeded Canyon Ceman (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Mike
Whitmarsh (San Diego, Calif.) 21-17, 25-27 and 15-10 and sixth-seeded Mike
Lambert (Honolulu, Hi.) and Lee LeGrande (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) .21-17 and
21-18.  Ceman and Whitmarsh had competed in the last two AVP finals this season
by defeating Fonoimoana and Holdren for the Belmar, N. J. (June 30) title
before losing earlier this month to the top-ranked men's team in Manhattan
Beach.

With Chicago hosting the 20th men's and 11th women's pro beach volleyball
event, the men's competition also featured Kiraly's effort to become a
$3-million career winner.  Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.) and Brent Doble
(Capistrano Beach, Calif.) won two of five matches this weekend to place
seventh after being eliminated Saturday by Bacil and Souza 21-19 and 21-19.
The 41-year old Kiraly now has $2,997,508 in pro beach career that started in
1978.

Kiraly, who became the winningest pro beach player in history by capturing his
140th title in 1999 with Johnson on North Avenue Beach, needed to place second
or higher this week to top the $3-million mark in his career.  Playing with
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.  Kiraly, who won indoor Olympic Gold
Medals for the United States in 1984 and 1988, captured the men's beach Olympic
Gold Medal with Kent Steffes in 1996 at the Atlanta Games.

Competing in their 47th pro beach event together, Davis and Johnson Jordan
rallied from a first set loss (19-21) to defeat Holly McPeak and Elaine 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 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.

The Chicago event also determined the top eight men's and eight 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).