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Blanton, Nygaard third again

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For the fourth time in five tournaments during the 2004 Assn. of

Volleyball Professional Nissan Series, former Laguna Beach High

athlete Dain Blanton and teammate Jeff Nygaard have finished third.

The duo advanced last Sunday to the semifinal round of the

Manhattan Beach Open, where they fell to the team of Matt Fuerbringer

and Casey Jennings, 15-21, 23-21, 13-15.

It was the pair’s fourth, three-game match in a row.

Blanton and Nygaard won five matches, overall, and both of their

losses came to Fuerbringer and Jennings.

The team of Karch Kiraly and Mike Lambert won the men’s title,

giving the AVP its fifth different men’s champion in five AVP event’s

this year.

Kiraly, 43, has now won eight Manhattan Beach Open titles.

It was the first career title win for Lambert.

Winning the women’s side of the open was the team of Holly McPeak

and Elaine Youngs, although the biggest win of the tournament was

recorded by Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan.

Davis and Johnson Jordan, seeded third and 0-8 in previous

meetings with the team of Misty May and Kerri Walsh, recorded a first

in AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour history when they scored an upset

sweep of the world’s top team to put an end to the greatest run in

beach volleyball history.

Davis and Johnson Jordan managed to put to an end to May and

Walsh’s 89-match wins, 15-tournament victories that dated back to

July 5, 2003, a perfect AVP record -- which included wins in all 12

tournaments and 64 matches since May and Walsh joined the AVP Pro

Beach Volleyball Tour in 2003 -- and a streak of 66 games won.

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