New Team Makes It 2 in a Row

The past, present and future of women’s beach volleyball continued to jell on a breezy Sunday at the Seal Beach Open event on the Beach Volleyball America tour.

Twenty-two-year-old rookie Misty May and partner Holly McPeak, the sport’s all-time leading money winner, soundly defeated Lisa Arce and Barbra Fontana, 15-4, in the final.

It was the 53rd title for McPeak and just the third for May, who played only three beach events last season. They won the $15,000 first prize and posted their second consecutive victory after winning the FIVB’s Chicago Grand Slam tournament Tuesday.

“Holly put herself out on a limb by playing with me,” said May, who played at Newport Harbor High and was an All-American setter at Long Beach State. “She’s been out here for what, 10 years, but she’s been patient with me.

“This was our first BVA win so it’s pretty awesome.”

So how were the victorious teammates going to celebrate?

“We gotta pack,” McPeak said.

May and McPeak are still busy trying to qualify for the Sydney Olympics, so they need to continue their success on the FIVB tour with this week’s event in Berlin. FIVB stops in France, Portugal and Japan follow.

That rigorous schedule was one reason Liz Masakayan and Elaine Youngs skipped the Seal Beach Open. The teams of Masakayan and Youngs, May and McPeak and Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan are in a tight race for the two available spots on the U.S. Olympic team.

“We were considered longshots when we started this thing,” McPeak said. “Maybe we’ll sneak up on people, but I don’t care how we get there. Making the Olympics has always been our goal.”

May and McPeak scored four consecutive points to take an early 5-2 lead in the final, but Arce and Fontana drew to within 6-4.

Then May and McPeak scored the final nine points. McPeak had seven of her 10 digs and May had eight of her 12 kills after their lead was trimmed to 6-4. “They just outplayed us,” Fontana said.

Arce and Fontana, who defeated May and McPeak, 15-13, in the BVA’s first event this season at Oceanside, won $10,500 for second place.

Davis and Johnson Jordan, who were top-seeded, won the third-place match by defeating Nancy Reno and Leanne Schuster, 15-4, after losing to Arce and Fontana in the semifinals, 15-10.

In May and McPeak’s semifinal, they cruised past Reno and Schuster, 15-4, after narrowly defeating Arce and Fontana in the winner’s bracket semifinals, 15-11.

Although May credits McPeak’s championship experience as a big factor in the team’s recent rise--they have finished first or second in six of their last seven tournaments--McPeak enjoys feeding off May’s exuberance.

“Her eyes get big and she just wants to play,” McPeak said. “We’re coming together like I hoped, and I don’t think Misty knows yet what she can really do out here.”

Whatever the chemistry, it’s working.

“They have great quickness and speed,” Arce said. “It’s hard to play against that because you know they’re going to get to a lot of balls. They’re on a tear right now.”