May-Treanor is a title away
The record is there for the taking and Misty May-Treanor is aware of it, if only because people keep bringing it up.
Still, she prefers not to let her pursuit of the record for beach volleyball victories by a woman keep her up at night. Her DVR does a good enough job of that.
When May-Treanor teamed with Kerri Walsh to win the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour’s Glendale Open last week, it was victory No. 72 for May-Treanor, matching the mark held by Holly McPeak.
This weekend in Hermosa Beach, she can pass McPeak on that list, but May-Treanor says she is far more concerned with catching up on television shows such as “One Tree Hill,” “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
“No, that’s not keeping me up at night,” she said about the chase for history. “TiVo is keeping me up at night. I start watching some shows and I’m like, ‘I can’t go to bed now, I need to see what happens.’ ”
The outcome of reality television may not always be predictable but what happens on the volleyball courts almost always is: May-Treanor comes out on top.
She began playing professionally on the beach in 1999 and got her first victory in 2000 with McPeak. They played together for the 2000 season, winning five times in 16 tournaments.
In 2001, May-Treanor teamed with Walsh and they have been on a tear ever since, winning 66 of 98 tournaments.
“When she started playing, I knew she was going to be one of the greats,” McPeak said. “She was young and naive and had a lot to learn but, boy, did she have talent and it’s been fun to watch her grow as both a player and a person.”
Walsh is third on the list with 69 victories, followed by Karolyn Kirby with 67 and Jackie Silva with 60. No other woman has more than 50. Karch Kiraly holds the all-time record with 148 wins.
May-Treanor insists that she pays little attention to numbers, that her focus is on winning the next tournament. Still, she acknowledges a bit of pride.
“It is a milestone,” she said. “It’s an honor to be up there with Holly and Jackie and Karolyn and, of course, Kerri. When you first start playing, you’re only looking for win No. 1, so 73 seems like a pretty large number.”
It’s less than half of Kiraly’s record, but McPeak said that record is more reachable today than it was 10 years ago because there are more opportunities to play. May-Treanor and Walsh, for example, have averaged more than 14 victories over the last four years.
Just don’t expect May-Treanor to put that in her to-do list.
“I’ve been pretty good about not thinking about records my whole career,” she said. “I’m pretty kicked-back about those kinds of things.”
So what gets her excited? Why, “Dancing with the Stars,” of course.
“I want to be on it some day,” she said. “That’s my secret goal.”
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