Beijing Olympic Games

May-Treanor, Walsh survive scare, top Belgians

BEIJING (TICKER) —After receiving an early wake-up call, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh made short work of their adversaries on Friday.

The top-ranked American women’s beach volleyball duo recorded its 105th consecutive victory with a 24-22, 21-10 triumph over Liesbet van Breedam and Liesbeth Mouha of Belgium to advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday. The match lasted only 38 minutes.

After fending off five set points in the first set, the United States breezed to victory - dispatching the Belgians in 18 minutes.

“I think getting pushed liked that in an elimination (match), it’s important … and it will help us down the road,” May-Treanor said. “They woke up a sleeping bear because we woke up and found our rhythm.”

“We came out flat and we were a second late on our defensive plays,” Walsh said. “I just think we need to come out with fire from the first serve to the last serve.”

The triumphant pair, which captured its first gold in this event at the 2004 Athens Olympics, improved to 458-18 in the last four years.

Celebrating her 30th birthday on Friday, Walsh used her 6-2 frame to exert her dominance at the net.

Walsh converted 23-of-34 attack points and recorded three blocks and five digs. Not to be outdone, May-Treanor converted 10-of-17 attack points and had six digs.

Entering these Games, May-Treanor and Walsh also had secured a record 18 straight tournament wins. The record-setting triumph at the Chicago Open on July 13 also gave May-Treanor 100 titles in her career.

The 30-year-old May-Treanor, who is married to Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, became the first woman and fifth person overall to reach that milestone, achieving it in just 153 tournaments.

The American tandem next will face Brazil’s Larissa Franca and Ana Paula Conelly, who topped Okka Rau and Stephanie Pohl of Germany by a 21-18, 21-14 score.

Walsh and May-Treanor were not the only Americans to find success in beach volleyball on Friday.

Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs posted a 21-15, 21-13 triumph over Tamara Larrea and Dalixia Fernandez of Cuba. That match lasted exactly 38 minutes as well.

Branagh converted 15-of-23 attack points and recorded three digs and two aces. For her part, Youngs converted 14-of-20 attack points and had three blocks.

Youngs and Branagh will play the Chinese duo of Xue Chang and Zhang Xi in the quarterfinals. Xue and Zhang cruised to a 21-19, 21-13 victory over Cuba’s Imara Esteves and Milagros Crespo.

Also, Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China advanced to the quarterfinals with a 21-13, 21-15 triumph over Nila Haakedal and Ingrid of Norway.

Next up for them will be Austria’s Stefanie and Diane Schwaiger, who posted a 23-21, 11-21, 18-16 win over the German duo of Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig.

Natalie Cook and Tamsin Barnett of Australia posted a 22-20, 19-21, 15-12 victory over Efthalia Koutroumanidou and Maria Tsiartsiani of Greece. They advanced to meet Brazil’s duo of Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha in the quarterfinals.

Ribeiro and Rocha defeated Susanne Glesnes and Kathrine Maaseide of Norway, 12-21, 21-19, 15-13, in the Round of 16.

In indoor volleyball action, United States coach Lang Ping was triumphant against the team that she used to star for as the Americans pulled out a 3-2 victory over China.

Considered the most celebrated female athlete in China, Ping won a gold medal with the Chinese at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She also coached China to a silver medal in 1996.

Now coach of Team USA, Ping watched her squad defeat the defending gold medalists by a 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 decision.

Russia recorded a 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-10) triumph over Algeria, Brazil bested Kazakhstan with a resounding 3-0 (25-13, 25-6, 27-25) victory and Italy swept past Serbia (25-23, 25-20, 25-19) in Pool B preliminary matches.

In Pool A, Poland cruised to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-20) victory over Venezuela and Cuba defeated Japan with a dominating 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-22) triumph.