Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh to Play for Gold Again

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh to Play for Gold Again
B.J. Hoeptner Evans, USA Volleyball

The U.S. women's beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, seeded No. 3, advanced to its third straight Olympic final after defeating China's No. 2 Chen Xue and Xi Zhang, 22-20, 22-20 in 44 minutes on Tuesday in the semifinals at Horse Guards Parade.

May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Walsh (San Jose, Calif.), the two-time defending Olympic gold medalists, improve to 6-0 (20-0 in Olympic matches going back to Athens and 40-1 in Olympic sets). They will face the winner of Tuesday's second semifinal between the U.S. team of Jen Kessy and April Ross (No. 4) and Brazil's No. 1 Larissa França and Juliana Felisberta Da Silva for the gold medal on Wednesday at 9 p.m. local time (1 p.m. PT).

Xue and Zhang, who won the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, fall to 4-2 and will play for the bronze medal on Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time (11 a.m. PT).

May-Treanor and Walsh had to fight their way back from a six-point deficit in the first set. In the second set, the U.S. team fought off set point at 20-19 to win the match.

"It was amazing. I feel like we eked it out and we eked it out with a lot of heart," Walsh said. "We didn't play that great because they made us so uncomfortable. They're just big, physical athletes."

May-Treanor added, "I am very, very proud of how we really stuck together, stayed patient and adjusted."

The play of the match, and perhaps the tournament, came in the second set with China leading 19-18. China's Zhang attacked the ball and was caught by surprise when May-Treanor ran it down and passed it close to the net. Walsh passed it over while sliding under the net and it landed short on China's side as Xue and Zhang had moved to the back of the court.

"We got lucky and I think you create your own luck," Walsh said of the play. "That's what you get when you don't give up."

Xue and Zhang led May-Treanor and Walsh in attacks (35-30) and digs (34-24) while May-Treanor and Walsh led in blocks (5-1) and aces (3-0).

Individually, May-Treanor scored on 22 kills and one block and was credited with 17 digs. Walsh scored on eight kills, four blocks and had all three of the team's aces. She also had seven digs.

May-Treanor and Walsh trailed in the first set by six points at 13-7 when

In the first set, China jumped out to a 3-0 lead on three straight kills and eventually increased its lead to six at 13-7. That's when May-Treanor scored with a kill after a long rally. The U.S. team scored five more straight points, including two more attacks from May-Treanor, and two blocks and an ace from Walsh to tie the score at 13-13. From there, the two teams battled back and forth. The U.S. was leading 19-18 when Walsh scored on an attack to give the U.S. set point. China came back with a kill by Xue and a U.S. error to tie the score at 20-20. Walsh responded with a block and the U.S. won the set when China hit into the net.

May-Treanor and Walsh led by as many as six points in the second set at 12-6. But China did not give up and eventually tied the score at 16-16 and then took a 17-16 lead on a kill by Xue. With China leading 19-18, Walsh made her amazing play at the net to tie the score at 19-19, but China followed with a block by Xue to reach set point. Walsh tipped the ball over the net for a kill to fight off set point. May-Treanor hit a kill to the back row to give the U.S. match point. Walsh ended the match with a block of Zhang.

Originally published by USA Volleyball (http://www.teamusa.org)