(July 12, 2002)

USA's May/Walsh & McPeak/Youngs Advance To Canadian Open "Final Four"
American Women Post 18-5 Match Mark In FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Event

MONTREAL, CANADA (July 12, 2002) This weeks FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour women's stop features the same four semifinalists as last Saturday in Norway, but the pairings will be different as two teams from the United States advanced here Friday (July 12) to the "final four" along with tandems from Brazil and Australia.

The United States women's tandems of top-seeded Misty May/Kerri Walsh and fourth-seeded Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs earned "final four" berths Friday after each won five-straight matches this week in the $300,000 FIVB Beach
Volleyball World Tour on the Stade du Maurier sand.

The two American teams will meet for the first-time this season in Saturdays in first semifinal match. Third-seeded Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia will challenge second-seeded Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil in the second semifinal Saturday morning with two winners playing for the $22,500 first-place prize in the afternoon.

Saturday's women's semifinals features the same four teams that competed for the Gold Medal at last week's Norway Open where McPeak and Youngs defeated both the Brazilians and the Aussies July 6. McPeak and Youngs defeated Cook and Pottharst 21-17, 16-21 and 15-11 in the 55-minute title match in Stavanger. Behar and Bede downed May and Walsh 11-21, 21-18 and 15-13 in the 46-minute Bronze Medal match.

May (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.) scored a 21-9 and 21-12 win over 32nd-seeded Arcadia Berjonneau and Tatiana Riera of France Friday morning to win Pool A. Winners of 23 of 26 matches this season, May and
Walsh eliminated the teams of 15th-seeded Nancy Mason/Rachel Wacholder of the United States (21-19 and 21-13) and seventh-seeded Daniela Gattelli/Lucilla Perrotta of Italy 21-14 and 21-18 in the elimination rounds to earn their semifinal spot.

McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Youngs (Durango, Colo.) defeated 29th-seeded Esther Alcon and Catalina Pol of Spain 21-9 and 21-15 Friday morning to capture Pool D. McPeak and Youngs, who have now won 36 of 37 matches this season, eliminated 14th-seeded Chiaki Kusuhara and Ryoko Tokuno of Japan (21-15 and 21-16) and fifth-seeded Ana Paula Connelly and Tatiana Minello of Brazil (21-15, 16-21 and 15-6) to advance to the "final four."

Cook and Kerri Pottharst advanced to the "final four" by eliminated 22nd-seeded Carrie Busch and Leanne Schuster 21-15 and 21-19. Busch and Schuster had won four matches this week for the United States. Behar and
Bede, who lost te Sydney 2000 Gold Medal match to Cook and Pottharst, 23rd-seeded Nicole Sanderson and Annette Huygens Tholen of 21-10 and 21-17 to earn a semifinal berth.

The biggest "break-through" for the United States was the play of Busch (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Schuster (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), who captured Pool F with a 3-0 mark. Busch and Schuster, who upset DeNecochea (San Diego, Calif.) and Fontana (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) 14-21, 21-16 and 15-12 Thursday, opened with a 21-17, 20-22 and 15-13 win over 11th-seeded Nancy Gougeon and Marie-Andrée Lessard of Canada Friday.

DeNecochea and Fontana, who had defeated Busch and Schuster in two previous meetings this season on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour, downed 27th-seeded Kamoltip Kulna and Jarunee Sannok of Thailand 21-13
and 21-10 Friday morning to earn a spot in the elimination brackets. Busch and Schuster defeated 12th-seeded Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau of Germany 21-12 and 21-19 in an opening elimination match Friday while DeNecochea and
Fontana dropped a 18-21, 22-20 and 15-7 decision Ana Paula Connelly and Minello Winners of two matches in the 28-team Qualification Tournament to advance to the Main Draw, Mason and Wacholder opened play Friday by eliminating the 18th-seeded Bulgarian Yanchulova sisters (Lina and Petia) 21-15 and 21-17 to
advance to the elimination bracket.

The United States is seeking its fourth-straight women's title this season on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. May and Walsh won the first two Gold Medals this season in Madrid, Spain (June 9) and Gstaad, Switzerland (June
22). McPeak and Youngs captured last week's title by defeating Cook and Pottharst 21-17, 16-21 and 15-11 in the 55-minute women's finale. Cook and Pottharst are the only team to defeat McPeak and Youngs this season with a
June 21 quarterfinal win in Switzerland.

Canada is hosting its fourth FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event after staging the previous three stops in Toronto (1998-2000). The FIVB also sanctioned the beach volleyball competition at the 1999 Pan American Games in
Winnipeg where Behar and Bede won the women's Gold Medal while Canadians Jody Holdren and Conrad Leinemann delighted the host country faithful by capturing the men's title.

The Toronto FIVB stops had South American teams winning all three men's Gold Medals and two of the three women's titles. McPeak and former 1996 Olympic partner Nancy Reno won the women's Gold Medal for the United States in 1999 at Toronto. Women's teams from Brazil won the 1998 and 2000 Toronto titles with Sandra Pires and Adriana Samuel capturing the crown in 1998 and Behar and Bede in 2000.

The Behar/Bede and Pires/Samuel teams captured the Silver and Bronze Medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games where Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia claimed the Gold Medal. Cook and Pottharst, who have posted a
second and two thirds this season on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, won the Bronze Medal at the 2000 Toronto event.

Behar and Bede, the 1999 and 2001 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champions, defeated May and McPeak in the 2000 Toronto finale. Behar and Bede, who have won a team record 27 FIVB beach titles, also placed second in both the 1998
and 1999 Toronto events. The Brazilians have placed ninth, second and third in the first three international events this season.

[Source: Tim Simmons, 303/678-8484; 303/678-7474 (FAX)] Bfishinc@aol.com]