May’s Injury Has Walsh Thinking

The match many beach volleyball fans have been waiting for will have to wait.

That is, if it happens at all.

The Olympic gold medal quest for Kerri Walsh and Misty May took a blow Saturday when an abdominal muscle strain forced May to withdraw from the Hermosa Beach Open just before the final, denying fans an anticipated showdown with Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs.

Then, for the first time, Walsh acknowledged that May’s injury has been such a problem over the last two months that she has been entertaining the thought of finding a replacement partner for the Olympics, which begin in less than three weeks.

She said she would ask Annett Davis, who with Jenny Johnson Jordan finished third in the race for the two U.S. Olympic team berths.

“I don’t want to have to think about that,” Walsh said. “That scares me to death because Misty and I are a team and I think that together we are the best team in the world.

“But, God forbid something would happen.... That would be something that we would talk about extensively and I would ask Annett Davis to play.”

Walsh would have until Aug. 12 to decide. Olympic competition begins Aug. 14. Olympic rules allow a replacement from among the U.S. teams that finished third and fourth in the Olympic points race.

May issued a statement that addressed her injury but did not speak with reporters before leaving Hermosa Beach.

May and Walsh had dominated the sport in 2003 and the early part of this year with victories in 15 consecutive tournaments and 90 consecutive matches.

Those streaks came to an end June 6 in a semifinal loss to Davis and Johnson Jordan during the Manhattan Beach Open. Since then, McPeak and Youngs have taken over as the dominant team with six victories in eight events.

That string, coupled with May’s injury, made it difficult to argue that McPeak and Youngs, not May and Walsh, are the best bet for a U.S. gold medal in Athens. But McPeak and Youngs have lost 13 consecutive matches to May and Walsh, including all five times they’ve met this year. Because of May’s injury, they haven’t played since June 18 in Switzerland.

May and Walsh defeated Nancy Mason and Carrie Busch, 21-15, 21-18, in their first match Saturday, then knocked off Barb Fontana and Jennifer Kessy, 16-21, 21-12, 17-15, in a hard-fought 62-minute match.

After that match, Walsh said she and May decided they shouldn’t play the final.

“I think it was a poor decision to play this tournament,” Walsh said. “All tournament long she wasn’t playing Misty May volleyball. I think it was great that we played five matches together and won all five ... but we shouldn’t have played.”

Top-seeded men Karch Kiraly and Mike Lambert made it through four matches in the contenders bracket and will play Jake Gibb and Adam Jewell today at 9:30 a.m. for a spot in the final four.

Eric Fonoimoana and Kevin Wong reached the final four with two victories in the winners bracket, as did Todd Rogers and Sean Scott. Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, an unheralded team from Florida, will play Olympians Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard for the other spot in the final four.