(August 16, 2002)                                                                                             Hot News Main Page

USA's Bragado & Wood Upset Japanese Tandem 
In FIVB Beach Volleyball Event
American Advances Four Teams To Elimination Rounds In 150,000 Chinese Open

MAOMING, CHINA (August 16, 2002) Led by an upset win by 23rd-seeded Danalee Bragado and Ali Wood, the United States advanced all four of its teams to the 16-team elimination rounds in the women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour here Saturday morning (August 17) following the completion of pool play.

Bragado (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Wood (Hermosa Beach, Calif.), who received a Main Draw "wild card" entry for the Chinese Open, scored a 21-17 and 21-16 win in 39 minutes over 10th-seeded Chiaki Kusuhara and Ryo Tokuno of Japan Saturday morning to advance to the elimination bracket.

Playing in their third international event together after starting the 2000 season with different partners, Bragado and Wodd will face ninth-seeded Daniela Gattelli and Lucilla Perrotta of Italy Saturday afternoon. The winner of that match wil play either second-seeded Misty May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) of the United States or 16th-seeded Vassiliki Karadassiou and Efrosyni Sfyri of Greece for a spot in Sunday's "final four."

Joining the Bragado/Wood and May/Walsh tandems for the United States in the elimination bracket are top-seeded Holly McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Elaine Youngs (Durango, Colo.) and eighth-seeded Dianne DeNecochea (San Diego, Calif.) and Barbra Fontana (Manhattan Beach, Calif.).

With Americans winning all four of their pool play matches Saturday morning, the United States improved its record for preliminary Main Draw matches to 81-21 this season. The McPeak/Youngs and May/Walsh tandems have combined to win 47 of 48 pool play matches in nine FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events.

Being played in the South China Sea Province of Guangdong for the second-season, McPeak and Youngs defeated 32nd-seeded Zheng Ren and Wen Lu of China 21-8 and 21-15 Saturday morning. McPeak and Youngs will play 31st-seeded Inguna Minusa and Inga Pulina of Latvia in an opening elimination match Saturday. May and Walsh defeated Minusa and Pulina 21-10 and 21-15 Saturday morning as the Latvians used two upset wins Friday to earn a spot in the elimination bracket for the first-time this season.

With three FIVB Gold Medals to their credit this season in Norway, France and Greece, McPeak and Youngs have now won 40 of 43 international matches this season with $109,515 in earnings. The pair has a 21-0 pool play record. May and Walsh have won four international Gold Medals this season in Spain, Switzerland, Canada and Austria. May and Walsh, who celebrated her 24th birthday Thursday, have a 50-6 match mark this season with $142,640 to lead the FIVB rankings. After losing their first pool play match this season in Spain, May and Walsh have won their last 26 preliminary matches.

DeNecochea and Fontana rebounded from a setback to Gattelli and Perrotta (21-19 and 21-16) Friday to advance to the elimination bracket with a 21-16 and 21-17 win over 25th-seeded Krisztina Nagy and Katalin Schlegl of Hungary Saturday morning. DeNecochea and Fontana, who have now posted a 15-6 FIVB pool play mark this season, play seventh-seeded Jia Tian and Fei Wang of China in their first elimination match with the winner facing either May/Walsh or Karadassiou/Sfyri for a spot in the semfinals.

[Source: Tim Simmons, 303/678-8484; 303/678-7474 (FAX)]