TOP SEEDS ADVANCE IN AVP TOUR MAIN DRAW SEASON OPENER

The top-seeded teams of Stein Metzger/Kevin Wong and Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs advanced as expected in their respective Main Draws here Saturday (May 25) in the $125,000 Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour event at The Pier.

McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Youngs (Durango, Colo.), who are playing in their first women’s pro beach event together, won both of their matches as the top-seeded women’s tandem Saturday. The pair scored a 21-12 and 21-12 win over eighth-seeded Danalee Bragado and Rachel Wacholder to advance to Sunday’s action.

The top-seeded teams face a pair of fourth-seeded tandems in Sunday’s opening winner’s bracket matches. Metzger and Wong face Canyon Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh in their opening match Sunday while McPeak and Youngs meet Nancy Mason and Wendy Stammer.

Men's Second Round

· Metzger/Wong (1) def. Jennings/Torsone (16), 21-18 and 21-17 (39);
· Doble/Kiraly (8) def. Bacil/Souza (24), 21-19 and 26-24 (72);
· A.Hannemann/Nygaard (5) def. Baxter/Ring (12), 17-21, 21-18 and 16-14 (60);
· Ceman/Whitmarsh (4) def. Boss/Lane (13), 19-21, 21-18 and 15-5 (54);
· Fonoimoana/Holdren (3) def. Rosenthal/Williams (14), 21-14 and 24-22 (45);
· Ayakatubby/Lewis (22) def. Blanton/Henkel (6), 21-18, 18-21 and 15-11 (65);
· Lambert/LeGrande (10) def. Taliaferro/A.Witt (26), 21-18 and 27-25 (55);
· Rogers/S.Scott (2) def. Elliot/Soldano (15), 21-15 and 21-13 (33).

Winner’s Bracket, Third-round · Metzger/Wong (1) def. Doble/Kiraly (8), 21-13 and 21-12 (65);
· Ceman/Whitmarsh (4) def. A.Hannemann/Nygaard (5), 21-18 and 21-18 (45);
· Fonoimoana/Holdren (3) def. Ayakatubby/Lewis (22), 21-15 and 21-14 (39);
· Rogers/S. Scott (2) def. Lambert/LeGrande (10), 21-18 and 21-19 (42).

Winner’s Bracket, Fourth-round
· Metzger/Wong (1) vs. Ceman/Whitmarsh (4);
· Fonoimoana/Holdren (3) vs. Rogers/S. Scott (2).

Women's Winner's Bracket, Second-round · Holly McPeak, Manhattan Beach, Calif./Elaine Youngs, Durango, Colo. (1) def. Kottke/Miller (16), 21-10 and 21-12 (28) ;
· Danalee Bragado, Manhattan Beach, Calif./Rachel Wacholder, El Segundo, Calif. (8) def. Wendell/Wood (9), 21-9 and 26-24 (34);
· Davis/JohnsonJordan (12) def. Katy Eldridge, Los Gatos, Calif./Jennifer Meredith, Manhattan Beach, Calif. (5), 16-21, 21-19 and 15-12 (57);
· Nancy Mason, Hermosa Beach, Calif./Wendy Stammer, Portland, Ore. (4) def. Hilleary/Keller (13), 21-19, 19-21 and 15-13 (63);
· Lisa Arce, Redondo Beach, Calif./Linda Hanley, Pacific Palisades, Calif. (3) def. K. Lindquist/T Lindquist (14), 21-16 and 21-11 (35);
· Carrie Busch, Hermosa Beach, Calif./Leanne Schuster, Manhattan Beach, Calif. (6) def. Santana-Baeni/Young (11), 28-30, 21-13, 15-9 (77);
· Liz Masakayan, San Diego, Calif./Jen Pavley, Redondo Beach, Calif. (7) def. Fuamatu/Ilustre (23, 13), 114-21, 21-17 and 15-9 (51);
· Dianne DeNecochea, San Diego, Calif./Barbra Fontana, Manhattan Beach, Calif. (2) def. Morse/Pagano (18), 21-8 and 21-15 (30).

Winner's Bracket, Third-round
· McPeak/Youngs (1) def. Bragado/Wacholder (8), 21-12 and 21-12 (35);
· Mason/Stammer (4) def. Davis/Johnson Jordan (12), 21-14 and 21-19 (41)
· Busch/Schuster (6) def. Arce/Hanley (3), 23-21 and 22-20 (45);
· DeNecochea/Fontana (2) def. Masakayan/Pavley (7), 21-14 and 21-15 (41).

Winner's Bracket, Fourth-round (winners advance to semifinals)
· McPeak/Youngs (1) vs. Mason/Stammer (4);
· Busch/Schuster (6) vs. DeNecochea/Fontana (2).

Semifinals
· McPeak/Youngs (1) / Mason/Stammer (4) winner vs. Loser's Bracket, fifth-round winners;
· Busch/Schuster (6) / DeNecochea/Fontana (2) winner vs. Loser's Bracket, fifth-round winners

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF. - The first of seven events on the 2002 Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour opened here Friday (May 24) at The Pier with eight men's and four women's teams qualifying for Saturday's Main Draw in the $125,000 tournament.

A total of 89 men's and 54 women teams entered the 19th season opener for the largest combined field in the history of the AVP Tour, which started in 1984. For the second-time in Huntington Beach, a pro beach tournament features both men and women competition with the first being in 1999 for a USA Volleyball-sanctioned stop.

The AVP Huntington Beach Open, presented by Michelob Light resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. (PDT) on 12 sand courts south of The Pier. Friday's Qualification Tournament determined the final eight berths in the 32-team men's Main Draw and the final four spots in the 24-team women's Main Draw.

A total of 96 Main Draw matches will be played Saturday. Sunday's competition starts at 8 a.m. The medal matches will begin approximately at 1 p.m. Sunday. Echo Entertainment of Studio City, Calif., will be taping the AVP Huntington Beach Open action for air on both FOX Sports Net (90-minute show) and Oxygen (60-minute program). Chris Marlowe and Heather Cox will provide commentary on the show produced by Phil Smith.

Earning berths Friday from the 65-team men's Qualification Tournament were the teams of Brandon Taliaferro/Andy Witt; Adam Roberts/Jim Walls, Skyler Dale Davis/Tim Wooliver, Chris Makos/Scott Wong, Matt Heath/Gaston Macau, Evan Silberstein/James VanZwieten and Chuck Moore/Ed Ratledge. Advancing from the 34-team women's Qualification Tournament were the tandems of Jeanette Simenson/Julie Sprague, Kerri Eich/Kelly Rowe, Tanya Fuamatu/Heidi Ilustre and Kimberly Coleman/Lu Freire.

The men's AVP Huntington Beach Open Main Draw field is headed by Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong, who won the final two AVP Tour team events in 2001 at Santa Barbara and Manhattan Beach. Wong also captured the 2001 season finale in Las Vegas where he was crowned King of the Beach at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Beach legends Karch Kiraly and Brian Lewis have also entered the AVP Huntington Beach Open. Kiraly, who played in only two of seven AVP Tour team events in 2001, will be teamed with Brent Doble, a two-time winner last season with Lee LeGrande. Kiraly won the USA Volleyball event at Huntington in 1999 with Adam Johnson.

Kiraly missed the first five events last season due to a left calf injury. He was also recovering from a dislocated right shoulder in his final 2000 start. Kiraly, the winningest player in pro beach history (142 wins and $2,976,768 in earnings), was hurt in Belgium where he and Johnson were seeking a berth in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Lewis, who sat out the 2001 season after winning over $960,000 and seven titles on the AVP in 12 pro beach seasons, will be teamed with Scott Ayakatubby for the 2002 opener. Lewis won the 2000 AVP Huntington Beach Open with Canyon Ceman by defeating Johnson and Kiraly in the final. Ayakatubby teamed with Eduardo Bacil to win the 2001 Huntington stop by defeating Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh in the finale 21-14, 16-21 and 17-15 in 62 minutes.

Ceman and Whitmarsh, who captured the Silver Medal with Mike Dodd at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games when Kiraly won the Gold with Kent Steffes, are teamed together for the Huntington opener. Ceman and Whitmarsh had five "final four" finishes together last season. Whitmarsh has won more than $1,527,000 in his career with 27 event titles.

Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs headline the women's Main Draw field, as the pair will play in their first pro beach team event together. McPeak has earned more money than any other woman on the beach ($805,529) with 56 titles. A two-time beach Olympian, McPeak won three-straight women's events at Huntington (1995-97).

A 1996 indoor Olympian, Youngs won more money than any United States player (men or women) on the sand in 2001 with $137,275. An Orange County native from El Toro, Youngs won the AVP's 2001 women's team finale with Barbra Fontana in Manhattan Beach. Youngs has 14 pro beach titles to her credit in five seasons of play.

Fontana, who placed fourth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games with Linda Hanley, teamed with Lisa Arce to win the 1999 USA Volleyball event at Huntington. Fontana will play with Dianne DeNecochea to start the 2002 season while Arce has been paired with Hanley. Arce has won her last four tournaments in Huntington, including the 1998 Queen of the Beach competition. Arce also won with McPeak in 1996 and 1997 at Huntington.

Hanley has won pro beach titles in the last four decades enroute to 46 pro career beach crowns. She ranks behind Karolyn Kirby (67), McPeak (56) and Liz Masakayan (47) on the all-time win list. Hanley teamed with Sarah Straton to win last year's AVP Muskegon stop.

The AVP Huntington Beach Open will also mark the return of Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan. Competing in their first event since placing fifth in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Davis and Johnson Jordan won six pro beach titles together in 1999 and 2000. Both women gave birth to their first child in 2001. Davis had her son in June and Johnson Jordan her daughter in October.

Following the Huntington Beach event, the AVP Tour will take a weekend off before staging California events in Hermosa Beach (June 7-9) and Santa Barbara (June 14-16). June's schedule concludes with a stop in Belmar, N. J. (June 28-30).

Over 90 Men's and Women's teams compete on the outer courts.

Men's and Women's Main Draw
Stadium & Outer Courts
Saturday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm & Sunday 9:00 pm - 4:00 pm

32 Men's and 24 Women's teams compete for the 2002 Huntington Beach Title.

Featuring:

Men's Tournament
Kevin Wong & Stein Metzger
Karch Kiraly & Bent Doble
Canyon Ceman & Mike Whitmarsh

Women's Tournament
Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs
Barbara Fontana/Dianne DeNecochea