May, McPeak Reach Semifinals in Japan, Climb U.S. Rankings

Top-seeded Misty May, formerly of Newport Harbor High, and Holly McPeak advanced to the semifinals of the FIVB women’s event in Osaka, Japan Saturday and also took over the No. 2 spot in the U.S. Olympic qualification rankings.

May and McPeak won their 21st consecutive match with a 15-4 victory over Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook of Australia, but lost in today’s semifinals to Japan’s Yukiko Takahashi and Teru Saiki, 15-12, and finished fourth after losing the third-place match to Pottharst and Cook, 15-9.

Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan finished fifth and clinched one of the two U.S. Olympic berths with 2,676 points. Liz Masakayan and Elaine Youngs, who finished seventh in Osaka, have 2,420 points and trail May and McPeak, who have 2,504 points, for the second and final Olympic berth.

At the men’s FIVB event in Klagenfurt, Austria, San Clemente’s Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson finished fifth but moved up to the No. 2 spot in the U.S. Olympic qualification rankings.

Kiraly and Johnson lost to Brazil’s Jose Loiola and Emmanuel Rego, 16-14, and Brazil’s Ze’Marco deMelo and Ricardo Santos, 15-8, Saturday, but moved past Eric Fonoimoana and Dain Blanton, formerly of Laguna Beach High, in the U.S. Olympic rankings. Kiraly and Johnson have 1,722 points, Fonoimoana and Blanton have 1,636.

Americans Kevin Wong and Rob Heidger clinched one of the U.S. Olympic berths with 1,898 points.

SOCCER

The Bay Area Seals defeated the Orange County Waves, 3-0, Saturday in an A-League soccer game at Santa Ana Stadium. The loss drops the Waves (10-13-1), who came into the game tied for third, into fifth place in the Pacific Division.

DIVING

Tiffany Manning of Mission Viejo won the silver medal in the girls’ 16-18 platform event Saturday at the National Junior Diving Championships in Mission Viejo.

Manning, who trains with the Nadadores, qualified for the World Junior Championships by scoring a total of 406.24 points.

Nicole Pohorenec of Florida won the gold. The top two finishers in each of the 16-18 events qualify.

SOFTBALL

Orange County’s Southern California Belles and Southern California Hot Stuff from Yorba Linda both lost losers’ bracket games and were eliminated from the ASA Junior Olympic Gold Nationals Saturday in St. Louis.