Long Beach volleyball event brings out best

It was a serene day at Long Beach on Thursday, with the ocean bathed in sunlight. But, Ryan Mariano says, once play begins Friday at the AVP Long Beach Open, things won’t be quite as tranquil.

“It’s going to be cutthroat,” the Long Beach State graduate and Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour member said. “It’s going to be nasty. You’re going to see some crazy matches. There will be a lot of cheering, a lot of screaming, maybe even a couple of tears if it gets ugly.”

One cause of those tears could be the four Olympic teams taking part at the Open. The No. 1-ranked women’s team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh and the No. 1 men’s team of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, all four of whom were at the White House on Monday to meet President Bush, will be back to defend their titles from last year.

May-Treanor and Walsh, the 2004 Olympic gold-medal winners, will try to win their 18th straight tournament at Long Beach, their final event before they travel to Beijing for the Olympics. A victory at Long Beach would be the 99th career win for Walsh and the 102nd for May-Treanor.

Dalhausser and Rogers have won eight of the nine tour events they’ve participated in this season, their only loss coming in the semifinals in Atlanta on June 1. They lost again on June 15 to Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos in Berlin, but since then have compiled a 33-match win streak.

“They put a lot of pressure on you,” said nine-time AVP tour title-winner Jake Gibb. “Phil’s got a great block and Rogers has great defense.”

Gibb, who will also head to Beijing with his partner Sean Rosenthal, will play at Long Beach after missing last week’s event in Brooklyn, N.Y., because of an injury.

“For us this tournament is about preparing for Beijing,” Gibb said. “It’s the last time we get a chance to compete at a high level.”

Rounding out the Olympic participants at Long Beach will be Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh, one of the few teams to have defeated May-Treanor and Wash – although their last victory over the top-ranked duo came nearly a year ago in Boston.

chris.hine@latimes.com