May 22, 2004 (usav)
RHODES, Greece – Led by top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh of the United States, three teams from the United States each compiled 2-0 match marks here Friday (May 21) to advance Saturday’s opening winner’s bracket matches in the SWATCH-FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour women’s event.
With opening Main Draw wins over teams from Germany and Brazil Friday, May and Walsh extended their record winning streak to 76-straight matches, including 36-straight victories on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. May and Walsh, who are seeking their 14th-straight event title, play 25th-seeded Andrea Ahmann and Jana Vollmer of Germany in their first match Saturday.
"We are so anxious to do well here and it's always great to come back," May said before playing Friday.
Speaking about their chances at the Hellas Open on this leg of the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, Walsh commented, "Misty and I plan on doing very well at this event and it will provide us with great preparation for the Olympic Games. It's great to play in Rhodes because the fans come out and embrace us and we know it will be very similar in Athens."
The teams of fourth-seeded Annett Davis/Jenny Johnson Jordan and sixth-seeded Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs also won both of their matches Friday for the United States. Davis and Johnson Jordan scored wins over team from Norway and China while McPeak and Youngs defeated tandems from Italy and Australia.
Davis and Johnson play fifth-seeded Nicole Schnyder-Benoit and Simone Kuhn of Switzerland in their first match Saturday with the winner facing either May/Walsh or Ahmann/Vollmer later in the day for a spot in Sunday’s semifinals.
McPeak and Youngs will be challenged by 30th-seeded Shaylyn Bede and Renata Ribeiro of Brazil in their first match Saturday, with the winner taking on either second-seeded Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar of Brail or 23rd-seeded Chiaki Kusuhara/Ryo Tokuno of Japan for the second semifinal spot.
With their two wins Friday, Davis and Johnson also moved ahead of McPeak and Youngs in the competition for the second United States in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. May and Walsh are the No. 1 ranked team in the world on the Olympic qualifying list (3,810 points). Davis and Johnson now have 2,450 points followed by McPeak and Youngs at 2,374.
May and Walsh are seeking their second SWATCH-FIVB World Tour win this season after winning the 2004 opener for women in March at Fortaleza, Brazil. The Americans have also won the last six international events, including the FIVB World Championships last October in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The last time May and Walsh dropped a match was last season on July 5 when Ana Paula Connolly and Sandra Pires of Brazil scored a 21-19 and 21-15 win over the Americans in the finals of the Norwegian Open in Stavanger. Ana Paula and Pires are not competing this weekend along with Australia’s top women’s team of Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson.
The tandems of McPeak/Youngs and Davis/Johnson Jordan tied for seventh in the Fortaleza FIVB season opener. Both teams have faced May and Walsh in AVP Tour finals this season. McPeak and Youngs dropped April title matches to May and Walsh in Florida and Arizona while Davis and Johnson Jordan were defeated by the top-ranked team in Texas earlier this month.
Rhodes is hosting a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour women’s event for the third-straight season. McPeak and Youngs won the inaugural women’s tournament in 2002 when they defeated Cook and Kerri Pottharst, the Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalists, in the finale. In an all-Brazilian final in 2003, Ana Paula and Pires defeated Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar in the title match with May and Walsh finishing third.