Two U.S. teams reach semifinals in women’s beach volleyball

LONDON -- The United States has locked down at least one medal in women’s beach volleyball, the color or colors to be determined, after two quarterfinal wins Sunday.

Defending Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings quickly defeated Italians Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti in two sets, and Jennifer Kessy and April Ross beat the Czech Republic’s Marketa Slukova and Kristyna Kolocova to advance to the semifinal round.

The victories mean the American teams can finish no lower than third and fourth, ensuring the U.S. at least a bronze medal in the tournament at Horse Guards Parade. The U.S. last had two teams in the semifinals at the 2004 Games, where it won the gold and bronze medals.

Kessy and Ross, who each played at USC, faced a tough match against the Czechs, who became the tournament’s Cinderella team after ousting heavily favored Brazilians Maria Antonelli and Talita Rocha. The U.S. and Czech teams traded several set-point serves in the first set until two unforced errors gave the Americans the win.

The Americans won, 25-23, 21-18, setting up a semifinal match Tuesday against Brazilians Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca.

“We really needed to win that first set. It was huge,” Kessy said. “I’m really impressed with our composure.”

May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings were merciless against the reigning European champions in their 21-13, 21-13 victory, which lasted only 35 minutes and reduced Menegatti to tears midway through the second set. Neither American saw her crying, but Walsh Jennings said she sensed the young player was becoming emotional as the Italians struggled to find a rhythm.

“That’s by us being aggressive,” May-Treanor said. “She was probably like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ That’s how you get teams in trouble.”

In a semifinal match Tuesday, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings will face Xue Chen and Zhang Xi of China, who beat them handily at the Moscow Grand Slam final in June.

The U.S. players said that loss prompted them to work harder to prepare for the London Games.

“We sold the old team and we bought a new team,” May-Treanor said. “Obviously, it [the June loss] is in the back of our minds, but we are a completely different team than what you saw in Moscow.”

It’s possible the two U.S. teams could meet each other in the final or the bronze-medal match, but Walsh Jennings said she isn’t thinking that far ahead. If it does happen, she says she plans to attack her compatriots the same way she has targeted other teams here.

“Obviously, that would be amazing for our country,” Walsh Jennings said of an all-American final. “But we want to crush everyone, we don’t care where they’re from.”

sstclair@tribune.com

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