Olympic medalists dominate

Hit ‘em where they ain’t.

The top-ranked AVP pro beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh relied more on soft, untouchable drop shots between defenders than brute force to advance Friday in the Manhattan Beach Open.

The Olympic gold medalists finished the day with a 21-16, 21-14 win over eighth-ranked Dianne DeNecochea and Barbra Fontana to reach today’s final rounds.

The second-ranked team of Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs also advanced.

Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, defending men’s winners at Manhattan Beach and reigning champs on the AVP’s Crocs Tour, also cruised through their early elimination rounds.

The women’s semifinal and final matches are today, and they’re Sunday for the men, just south of the city’s pier. Each winning team collects $100,000 in prize money.

This is the last stop on the Crocs Tour for team competition, with reigning women’s series champs May-Treanor and Walsh going for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Manhattan Beach victory.

May-Treanor said the long season, combined with the Olympics, has taken a physical toll and partly explained the soft shots Friday.

“It’s the end of the season and I’m using whatever I’ve got left with this body of mine,” she said. “I just wasn’t in a good hitting rhythm so I had to use my [soft] shots.”

May-Treanor, a Los Angeles native who attended high school in Costa Mesa, and the 6-foot-3 Walsh, a Redondo Beach resident, have dominated the series again this year.

Not only did they win the gold medal in Beijing, they’ve also won 11 of the Crocs Tour’s 16 events.

“I love coming [to Manhattan Beach] and competing and seeing the fans,” May-Treanor said. “That sparks me again, and it’s fun to play at home.”

Dalhausser and Rogers have been nearly as dominant in men’s competition. They also won Olympic gold last month and have captured 10 of the 16 Crocs Tour events this year, including the first five in a row.

Nick Lucena and Sean Scott, another top team in the men’s division, also advanced Friday.

The 6-foot-9 Dalhausser and Rogers are gunning for their third consecutive win in Manhattan Beach, which has been hosting pro volleyball since the early 1960s. “There’s so much history there and a lot of the players grew up in and around that area,” said Rogers, a Santa Barbara native.

“If you want to win any tournament ever, just one, this is the tournament. Maybe it has something to do with getting your name and your teammate’s name on the pier, and then you become part of history.”

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james.peltz@latimes.com