May-Treanor/Walsh Achieve 500th Career Beach Victory
An American milestone was achieved Thursday morning in Phuket, Thailand during the opening Main Draw round of the US$200,000 Phuket Thailand Open as reigning Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh netted their 500th career beach volleyball win on Karon Beach.
Seeded first in the 32-team Phuket Thailand Open Main Draw, May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Santa Clara, Calif.) posted a 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) win in 32 minutes over 32nd-seeded Yupa Puklongploy and Usa Tenpaksee of Thailand to become the second women’s team to reach 500 career wins in recorded history.
“All wins are significant since each victory means you are advancing in a tournament,” said the 28-year old Walsh, who started playing with May-Treanor in 2001 after both players competed in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in different disciplines. “Obviously, the 500 mark is special because it means your partnership is strong. Misty is such a special player and we are both fortunate that we have had a lot of success together.”
May-Treanor left the U. S. National Team to start playing full-time on the beach in 2000 when she teamed with Holly McPeak to place fifth in the Sydney Games where Walsh helped the United States to a fourth-place in the Olympic Volleyball competition. Since then, May-Treanor and Walsh have become the winningest women’s team in American history.
In their next Phuket Thailand Open match Thursday, May-Treanor and Walsh defeated 16th-seeded Jennifer Boss (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Rachel Wacholder (Laguna Beach, Calif.), 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) in 36 minutes in an all-American confrontation. Boss and Wacholder advanced to the second-round with a 21-19 and 21-17 win in 44 minutes over 17th-seeded Sarah Maxwell and Marie-Andree Lessard of Canada.
Two-time SWATCH-FIVB World champions, May-Treanor and Walsh face their second-straight American rival in the third round when play opens Friday morning against eighth-seeded Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Elaine Youngs (El Toro, Calif.), who posted wins over teams from the Netherlands and Thailand on Thursday.
The U.S. team of Nancy Mason (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and April Ross (Newport Beach, Calif.) won the country quota tournament by defeating Dianne DeNecochea (Brooklyn, Mich.) and Holly McPeak ( Manhattan Beach, Calif.), and then made it through the qualifying tournament, only to lose in the first round of the Main Draw. However, they won in the first round of consolation and will play again on Friday.
By combining both domestic and SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events, May-Treanor and Walsh have a 91.9 winning percent (501-44) in 93-plus events with 63 titles, 83 podium placements, 85 “final four” appearances and $2,102,415 in winnings.
With the Phuket Thailand Open being May-Treanor and Walsh’s 47th SWATCH start together, the Americans have post a 261-33 international match mark (88.8 winning percent) with $1,090,540 and 24 titles. For 47 domestic events, May-Treanor and Walsh have a 240-11 (95.6%) with $1,007,845 in winnings and 39 title.
Although records from the Brazilian domestic tour are not available, Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede are the winningest women’s team in Beach Volleyball history. Since starting their international partnership in 1995, Adriana and Shelda have posted a 553-120 match mark (82.2%) for 109 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour events with 31 gold medals, 83 medals, 93 “final fours” appearances and $2,106,765 in earnings.
“We have played a lot of beach volleyball this season,” the 29-year old May-Treanor added, “and we are looking forward to relaxing after this week’s event. Both our husbands are here watching us play and we are going to these beautiful surroundings after we finish the competition. Hopefully, we’ll be playing this weekend for another medal.”
Following Thursday’s 32-match Phuket Thailand Open schedule where eight teams will be eliminated, a total of 22 matches will be played Friday when the first two “final four” teams will be determined for the 15th and final stop on the 2006 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar.
The last two elimination rounds Saturday will determine the last two “final four” berths before the afternoon semifinals. The medal matches will be played Sunday afternoon on the Karon Beach centre court where the last two teams compete for the $32,000 first-place prize.
