Blanton, Fonoimoana Advance in Chicago

Dain Blanton, a Laguna Beach High alumnus, and his partner, Eric Fonoimoana, won their opening-round matches Friday at the Chicago Grand Slam, a stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Blanton and Fonoimoana, seeded ninth, scored a 15-3 victory over 25th-seeded Christian Jodard and Jean Philippe Penigaud of France, then led from the start to defeat eighth-seeded Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson of San Clemente, 15-7. Kiraly and Johnson stayed alive in the double-elimination tournament with a 15-13 victory over 10th-seeded Andreas Scheuerpflug and Oliver Oetke of Germany.

Brian Lewis of Huntington Beach and partner Canyon Ceman were eliminated after losing both matches, including a 17-16 loss to top-seeded Marcio Araujo and Benjamin Insfran of Brazil in the opening round. Araujo and Insfran meet Blanton and Fonoimoana in today’s third round.

Two other Brazilian teams also are unbeaten--third-seeded Ze’Marco deMelo and Ricardo Santos and fourth-seeded Emanuel Rego Scheffer and Jose Loiola.

In the women’s competition, Newport Harbor graduate Misty May and partner Holly McPeak were among five teams that went 2-0 in the qualifying rounds.

In their only match of the day, May and McPeak defeated 16th-seeded Nancy Gougeon and Marie-Andree Lessard of Canada, 15-0, in 18 minutes.

UC Irvine graduate Ali Wood and partner Danalee Bragado also won their opening-round match, as did Mission Viejo High graduate Stephanie Cox and partner Katy Eldridge.