May-Walsh Come a Long Way After Win

In more ways than one, Misty May and Kerri Walsh were glad to get home.

They won the world championships in Brazil and officially established what was practically a given: They are the top women’s beach volleyball team in the world.

But May and Walsh did not return to their Southern California homes without incident.

The flight they took from Brazil to Miami made an unplanned landing early Monday in the Dominican Republic because of a belligerent passenger who appeared to be inebriated, May said. The man was arrested when the plane landed in Santo Domingo and passengers had to give statements to police.

“We were held in the plane for three hours,” May said. “The guy was out of hand, too drunk. I just wanted to get home. My back was sore. You’re anxious to get home as well” after winning.

All 148 passengers and 12 crew members were safe. The flight continued to Miami and arrived about three hours behind schedule.

It was the only thing that didn’t go as planned for May and Walsh.

Of the eight Olympic qualifying tournaments they played, May and Walsh won five and finished no lower than fourth. Their 21-19, 21-19 victory Sunday over Brazil’s Adriana Behar and Shelda Bruno in Rio de Janeiro gave them a fourth consecutive championship on the Federation Internationale de Volleyball tour.

On top of that, May and Walsh won all eight Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tournaments in which they played, going 39-0 in match play on the U.S. tour.

“Last year we didn’t play on the AVP, so it was fantastic for us to play in front of our hometown crowd,” said May, who lives in Long Beach.

May, 26, and Walsh, 25, finished a deceptive second in overall Olympic qualifying points because they played two fewer tournaments than Brazil’s Ana Paula Connelly and Sandra Pires Tavares.

“We didn’t finish too far behind, considering we missed some events,” May said. “We’re not so worried about how we finish ranking-wise. We want to be sure we finish ahead of other U.S. teams.”

May and Walsh are comfortably ahead of the U.S. team of Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs, who are sixth in the world. A third U.S. team, Jenny Johnson Jordan and Annett Davis, is seventh in the world standings, only a few points behind McPeak and Youngs.

Two teams from each nation can qualify for the Olympics. There will be about eight more qualifying tournaments next year for the Athens Olympics.

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The men’s world championships began today in Rio de Janeiro with Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard trying to solidify their position as the top U.S. team.

Blanton and Nygaard are No. 11 in the world standings, two spots ahead of the second U.S. team, Todd Rogers and Sean Scott.

Like the women’s event that just ended, the world championships will be worth about triple the points of a normal FIVB tournament. The final will be played Sunday.