May 28, 2006 

Misty May-Treanor dives for a ball during the third match of her and Kerri Walsh's 19-21, 21-12, 15-13 win over Holly McPeak and Nicole Branagh in the Huntington Beach Open Saturday. (Branimir Kvartuc / AP) Beach volleyball: May-Treanor, Walsh human and victorious 
Duo drops a game but still advances.

By Dave Werstine, Staff writer 


It's without a doubt that Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are the queens of beach volleyball, having won six straight AVP Tour titles and the first three tournaments to open the 2006 season.
Just as certain, the teams looking to unseat them are getting tougher and tougher every week.

"I think we've had the bull's eye for a while," said May-Treanor at the beginning of the season, "and it just keeps getting bigger."

The top-seeded May-Treanor and Walsh made their way through the first three rounds of the main draw Saturday and into today's semifinals of the AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open.

But it wasn't as easy as it has been in the past.

After breezing by the first two rounds, May-Treanor and Walsh ran into No. 9 Holly McPeak and Nicole Branagh, who gave the favorites a three-game test.

McPeak and Branagh took the first game 21-19, but May-Treanor and Walsh came back to even the match with a 21-12 win in the second game, forcing a first-to-15 third game. May-Treanor and Walsh opened up a 14-9 lead and held to win the game 15-13.

While that match showed May-Treanor and Walsh, who last week celebrated becoming the first team to reach 50 career titles, are indeed beatable, it may be becoming a trend as the rest of the teams on tour are beginning to catch up.

The No. 1 duo has lost five games this season and have been pushed to brink of losing three times, winning those third games by scores of 15-12, 20-18 and 15-3.

"That's what we want to see," said May-Treanor, the former Long Beach State star and Olympic gold medalist, of the increasing challenge. "The competition is so deep."

May-Treanor and Walsh will face No. 4 Semirames Marins and Tatiana Minello in one main draw semifinal at 8:30 a.m., while No. 6 Dianne DeNecochea and Tammy Leibl will take on No. 2 Rachel Wacholder and Elaine Youngs in the other semifinal.

The men's semifinals will pit the top-seeded team of Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger against No. 4 Matt Guerbringer and Casey Jennings, and No. 3 Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal against No. 2 Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, who have won the last two titles. All of those matches are also at 8:30 a.m.

The men's final is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the women's final at 4 p.m. on the beach just south of the Huntington Beach Pier.

Long Beach's Annett Davis and partner Jenny Johnson Jordan, seeded third, are still alive in the tournament despite losing a tough 21-23, 21-16, 19-17 quarterfinal match to DeNecochea and Leibl.

Davis and Johnson Jordan, who beat No. 8 Carrie Dodd and Barbra Fontana, 22-20, 13-21, 15-10, in the contender's bracket, can see just how deep and competitive the tour has become.

One day, former Long Beach State All-American Brittany Hochevar and partner Logan Tom hope to be one of those teams who can step up and contend for a title. But right now, the No. 15 seeds are paying their dues.

Hochevar and Tom beat Courtney Guerra and Janelle Koester, 21-15, 21-15, in the first round, but were defeated by Wacholder and Youngs, 21-9, 21-13, in the second round and sent to the contender's bracket.

"What matters is experience," Hochevar said. "They've got 10 years on us. You learn something new each time out."

Logan and Hochevar, who didn't seem to mind taking the long road, won a second-round contender's bracket game before falling out of the tournament with a 21-14, 20-22, 15-12 loss to No. 7 Jennifer Boss and Nancy Mason and finished 13th.

Jennifer Fopma and Stacy Rouwenhorst made their way through three rounds of qualifying for the seventh straight time on Friday to reach the main draw as the No. 26 seed. However, they were beaten by Boss and Mason in the first round and placed in the contender's bracket.

The former Valley Christian High standouts defeated main draw competitors Patti Cook and Ashley Ivy, the No. 23 seeds, 21-19, 19-21, 15-13, before dropping out with a 19-21, 25-23, 15-13 loss to Dodd and Fontana.