May into all-USA semifinal

Newport Harbor High product Misty May teamed with Kerri Walsh to

advance to today’s women’s beach volleyball semifinal at the Olympic

Games in Athens, Greece.

May and Walsh defeated Canada’s Guylain Dumond and Annie Martin,

21-19, 21-14, Sunday, to continue as the only women’s team not to

lose a game in the beach volleyball competition.

May and Walsh, top-seeded and the reigning world champions, will

meet Americans Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs in today’s semifinal.

May and Walsh have won their last 13 meetings with No. 4-seeded

McPeak and Youngs and 16 of their 18 meetings with the American duo.

May had 10 kills and 13 digs in the quarterfinal win, in which the

first game featured 15 ties. With the score knotted, 18-18, Walsh

hammered consecutive kills. After a Dumont kill for a point, Walsh

added a kill to close it out.

May ended the match with two kills in the second game, in which

the Americans seized a 7-1 lead and cruised to victory.

Today’s other semifinal pits Australia’s Natalie Cook and Nicole

Sanderson against Brazil’s Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede. Cook,

playing then with Kerri Lochowicz, won the gold medal at the 2000

Games in Sydney.

Locals will also compete today in men’s water polo, as well as

men’s and women’s windsurfing.