Youngs, Masakayan Win Twice to Advance

Elaine Youngs and Liz Masakayan scored two upsets Friday to advance to the semifinals at the FIVB women’s beach volleyball tour stop at Espinho, Portugal.

Youngs, an El Toro High graduate, and Masakayan are fighting for the final Olympic qualifying spot. They began the day with a 15-5 victory against top-seeded Adriana Behar and Kelly Shelda of Brazil. Behar and Shelda were later eliminated by Australians Kerri-Ann Pottharst and Natalie Cook.

Youngs and Masakayan, seeded eighth, then defeated fifth-seeded Monica Rodrigues and Ana Paula Connelly of Brazil. Youngs and Masakayan will play third-seeded Pottharst and Cook in today’s semifinals.

The other semifinal will be a U.S. matchup between second-seeded Jenny Johnson Jordan and Annett Buckner Davis and seventh-seeded Linda Arce and Barbra Fontana. Johnson Jordan and Buckner Davis defeated Arce and Fontana, 15-13, in the first round, then got past Pottharst and Cook, 15-4.

Arce and Fontana rebounded from their loss to win three in a row and advance to the semifinals. Arce and Fontana defeated Anabelle Prawerman and Cicile Rigaux of France, 15-11; Maria Jose and Cristina Pereira of Portugal, 15-7; and Rodrigues and Connelly, 15-3.

* Dain Blanton, a Laguna Beach High graduate, and partner Eric Fonoimoana won both matches on the first day of the main draw in Espinho.

Blanton and Fonoimoana, seeded eighth, defeated Andre Raffaelli and Maurizio Pimponi of Italy, 15-2, then dropped ninth-seeded Rogerio Para de Souza and Roberto Lopes of Brazil, 15-8. Blanton and Foniomoana will play top-seeded Jose Marco Nobrega Ferreira de Melo and Ricardo Alex Costa Santos of Brazil.

SOCCER

The Huntington Beach Wolfpack boys’ under-18 team and the Southern California Blues girls’ under-16 team were shut out Friday during the final round of pool play at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. However, both teams advanced to their division’s championship game on Sunday.

The Wolfpack lost to Scott Gallagher of St. Louis, 3-0, but will have a second chance in the final. The Wolfpack and Gallagher each finished with six points in their pool, but Scott Gallagher won the group based on goal differential.

Brian Lamping scored two goals against the Wolfpack, his third and fourth of the tournament, and Dan Hilson had the other.

The Blues were defeated, 1-0, by the Prince William Sparklers from Woodbridge, Va. The Sparklers scored on their first shot of the game and goalkeeper Sarah Guagliardo had six saves for her third consecutive shutout.

The Sparklers will try to become the fourth consecutive Region I team to win the under-16 title when they meet the Blues in the final.

TRACK AND FIELD

Woodbridge sophomore Michelle Sanford set a personal best and finished second in the intermediate girls’ triple jump Friday at the USATF National Junior Olympics in Buffalo, N.Y.

Sanford, 14, who won the long jump competition on Thursday, leaped 39 feet 10 inches, two inches further than her previous lifetime best. Latoya Legree of Stone Mountain, Ga., won the event at 40-7 3/4.

In the youth boys’ 1,500-meter run, Mater Dei freshman Michael Haddan finished sixth with a time of 4 minutes 27.20 seconds.