Former Sailors will collide

MANHATTAN BEACH — Top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and fifth-seeded April Ross will meet today at the Manhattan Beach Open, the last Southern California stop on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour.

The pair of Newport Harbor High graduates, who will face off in the winner’s bracket fourth round this morning, breezed through the early rounds with their partners Friday at the Manhattan Beach pier without dropping a game.

Two locals will also face each other in the men’s winner’s bracket third round, with seventh-seeded Estancia High product Matt Fuerbringer and partner Casey Jennings facing No. 2-seeded Jake Gibb, a Costa Mesa resident, and partner Sean Rosenthal. No. 1-seeded Costa Mesa resident Mike Lambert and partner Stein Metzger also won their first two matches.

May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh started off their run at a third-straight Manhattan Beach title by defeating No. 32-seeded Alexandra Jupiter and Leilani Kamahoahoa, 21-13, 21-13. They then eased past No. 17-seeded Jennifer Fopma and Holly McPeak, 21-14, 21-3, before topping No. 8-seeded Carrie Dodd and Tatiana Minello, 21-15, 21-15.

Ross, teamed with Jen Boss, defeated No. 28-seeded Jill Changaris and Sara Dukes, 21-17, 21-12. Ross and Boss then beat No. 12 Paula Roca and Sarah Straton in the second round, 21-12, 21-13, before getting by No. 4-seeded Tyra Turner and Rachel Wacholder, 21-16, 24-22.

May-Treanor and Walsh, who already have nine AVP titles this season, have won 33 straight AVP matches since losing to Ross and Boss in the fourth round of the Hermosa Beach Open on May 20.

The winner of today’s fourth-round match will advance to the semifinals later in the day. The women’s final is scheduled today at 1 p.m., and will be televised on NBC beginning at 1:30.

On the men’s side, Lambert and Metzger defeated No. 32-seeded Connor Hastings and Andy Northness, 21-9, 21-10, in the first round before topping No. 16-seeded Ryan Mariano and Ed Ratledge, 21-12, 21-14. Lambert and Metzger will play No. 8-seeded Dax Holdren and Sean Scott in the third round.

Gibb and Rosenthal defeated No. 31-seeded Mike Desjardins and Paul McDonald, 21-10, 21-16, in the first round before topping No. 15-seeded Chad Turner and Larry Witt, 21-19, 21-11.

Fuerbringer and Jennings beat No. 26-seeded Jeff Carlucci and Chris Seiffert, 21-12, 21-13, in their first match. They then beat No. 10-seeded Jeff Nygaard and Jason Ring, 21-18, 21-14.

Ninth-seeded Newport Beach resident Ty Loomis and partner Hans Stolfus beat No. 24-seeded Ty Tramblie, a Newport Harbor High graduate, and Mike Morrison in the winner’s bracket first round, 21-11, 21-19. But Loomis and Stolfus then fell to Holdren and Scott, 21-18, 21-16.

Corona del Mar resident Michael Rupp and Costa Mesa’s Fernando Sabla, who made it through the qualifier’s bracket, fell in the first round of the winner’s bracket to No. 3-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, 21-14, 21-13.

Rupp and Sabla then lost in the first round of the contender’s bracket to finish tied for 25th. They split $500.

Back in the women’s draw, Newport Beach resident Janelle Ruen and partner Paige Davis made it through qualifying. But they lost in the winner’s bracket first round, then lost in the contender’s bracket to finish tied for 25th and split $500.

— From staff reports