Race for Second Women’s Spot in Athens Games Intensifies

The top spot in women’s beach volleyball is already accounted for, and it doesn’t appear as though the occupants are vacating the premises anytime soon. But while a 15-tournament winning streak by Misty May and Kerri Walsh has drawn most of the attention, an equally compelling story has developed in the race for No. 2.

On the line is a trip to Athens for the 2004 Olympics.

May and Walsh have clinched one of the two allotted berths on the U.S. Olympic team, leaving Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs to duke it out with Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan for the second. McPeak and Youngs hold a slim 32-point lead, but the teams have flip-flopped positions twice in the last two weeks.

There are only four Olympic qualifying tournaments remaining, but despite the neck-and-neck race, both teams skipped a tournament in Japan this weekend in order to play the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Nissan Series Manhattan Beach Open.

The teams made it through the first three rounds undefeated Saturday at the Manhattan Beach Pier and will play each other today in the fourth round.

The complex qualifying system awards points based on each team’s top eight finishes in designated international events. McPeak and Youngs won a tournament in China last week, defeating Davis and Johnson Jordan in the final, to retake a lead they had lost the week before.

Of the three remaining events, one is a Grand Slam, which offers nearly double the points of a regular event. Both teams need at least a fifth-place finish in a regular event or a ninth place in the Grand Slam to improve their points total.

Head-to-head competition comes into play only if it means one of those placings in a tournament.

“You can’t think of it in terms of a head-to-head battle,” Youngs said. “If you do, you suffer because of it. If you start thinking ‘God, this is intense; it’s close,’ that gets the best of you. We just need to worry about what happens on our side of the net. If we play well, we know we can beat anybody.”

What makes the race more intriguing is the camaraderie among the players. Youngs, Davis and Johnson Jordan played together at UCLA; McPeak was a coach for that team.

After a dominant first day at Manhattan Beach, some speculate that McPeak and Youngs may even be playing better than Walsh and May right now. The two could meet in the final today.

“As many fans that come up and say they want us to beat them, we want it more,” McPeak said.

“It’s something that we train hard for and focus on every day. They’re one of the strongest teams in the world right now, on a huge streak, but we know we can beat them.”

May and Walsh will play Carrie Busch and Nancy Mason in the fourth round.

Men’s defending champions Eric Fonoimoana and Kevin Wong were upset by Ty Loomis and Ryan Mariano, 21-17, 25-23, in their first match Saturday, but won four consecutive matches and could advance to the final.

Top-seeded George Roumain and Jason Ring made it through the first day unbeaten, as did Karch Kiraly and Mike Lambert. They will play each other in the fourth round.

Canyon Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh will play Casey Jennings and Matt Fuerbringer in the other match between unbeaten teams.