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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:43 p.m., Saturday, September 20, 2008

Beach VB: May-Treanor, Walsh win again

Associated Press

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. _ Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their fourth straight and unprecedented fifth AVP Crocs Tour Manhattan Beach Open on Saturday, beating Jen Boss and April Ross 21-18, 21-16.

"We're up there with the greats," said May-Treanor, referring to the winners' plaques on the Manhattan Beach Pier. "I don't know if there's another team who can do four in a row."

May-Treanor and Walsh also clinched the AVP Crocs Cup, the AVP season-long championship, and pocketed $100,000 for the win, the largest winner's check in beach volleyball history.

But to do it, they had to come through the contenders' bracket for just the fourth time in their six years as a team on the AVP Crocs Tour.

Saturday morning, they lost to Boss and Ross in the quarterfinals, 24-22, 15-21, 15-11, before playing their way back into the final with wins over Lauren Fendrick and Paula Roca (21-14, 21-14) and Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan (21-11, 21-18).

This season as a team, May-Treanor and Walsh won 12 AVP Crocs Tour titles, three international titles, an Olympic gold medal and an overall AVP match record of 70-3, with all three losses coming in the last four weeks.

"Were we hungry?" May-Treanor said. "Yeah, we were very hungry for a win here."

Beijing gold medallists and defending Crocs Cup champions Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers moved one step closer to defending their title with a 21-15, 21-14 win over Mark Williams and Stein Metzger in the quarterfinals.

Casey Jennings and Matt Fuerbringer also advanced to the final four, beating Matt Olson and Kevin Wong 21-17, 21-14.