May-Treanor, partner cash in

HUNTINGTON BEACH ? Nobody told the women’s beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh there isn’t a whole lot of room for improvement. And if they did, the super duo wasn’t listening.

They once went on an unprecedented 89-match winning streak. They captured the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics. On May 20, they won their 50th tournament together at the Santa Barbara Open.

But the dynamic duo has no plans to slow down. Top-seeded May-Treanor and Walsh won their 51st tournament together on Sunday, capturing the Huntington Beach Open title with a 21-16, 21-12 victory over No. 2-seeded Elaine Youngs (El Toro High) and Rachel Wacholder (Laguna Beach High).

In collecting half of the $50,000 that goes to the winning team, May-Treanor, a former Newport Harbor High star, surpassed the $1 million mark in career beach volleyball earnings. She became just the second U.S. women’s player to pass the $1 million plateau, joining former partner Holly McPeak. May-Treanor became the first player, man or woman, to pass $1 million in fewer than 100 career tournaments. She did it in 99.

“I’m waiting to see it all in one piece,” said May-Treanor, who along with Walsh have won all four AVP events this season.

May-Treanor and Walsh looked like a million bucks in dismantling Youngs and Wacholder, the same duo that swept them in last year’s Huntington Beach Open final.

“Oh, we got killed last year,” Walsh said.

The first game was well-played by both teams. Wacholder and Youngs had an answer for everything May-Treanor and Walsh threw at them until late in the game. The score was tied as late as 14-14 before a Walsh kill and a May-Treanor ace provided separation.

A well-placed tip by May-Treanor, a Youngs floater that sailed long, and a Walsh kill gave May-Treaner and Walsh the opening-game victory.

“They played some of the best volleyball they’ve played all season in that first game,” Walsh said. “But we didn’t give them anything, and in the second game, I think they were a little deflated.”

Wacholder and Youngs were slightly less resistant in the second game, falling behind, 4-0, after a kill and a block by Walsh. They pulled to within 12-10, but then May-Treanor and Walsh went on an 8-0 run to bring up match point.

Walsh blocked Wacholder to ice the victory and take back the Huntington Beach title.

“It’s nice to get redemption,” Walsh said.

Despite the fact that May-Treanor and Walsh have 51 tournament titles, they are still working on getting better, which is bad news for opponents.

“One of our goals is to be a better serving team,” May-Treanor said. “We want to play much better and we think we can.”

May-Treanor and Walsh defeated McPeak and Nicole Branagh, 21-18, 21-16, in a semifinal match on Sunday to reach the final. Wacholder and Youngs defeated No. 4-seeded Tatiana Minello and Semirames Marins, 21-15, 21-12, in the other semifinal.

The All-Back Bay tandem of Kimberly Coleman, a Corona del Mar High graduate, and Jeannette Hecker, a Newport Harbor product, tied for 25th with seven other teams, including the duo of former Newport Harbor standout April Ross and Keao Burdine.

Coleman and Hecker were the No. 1 seed in the qualification tournament, in which they went 3-0 to reach the main draw as the No. 24 seed.

But they were matched against No. 9-seeded McPeak and Branagh in the first round and fell, 21-10, 21-14, on Saturday.

They then were eliminated in their next match, a 21-11, 12-21, 15-9 loss to No. 25-seeded Mary Baily and Julie Romias.

Ross and Burdine also emerged from the qualifying tournament with a 3-0 record, but dropped their first two matches in the main draw, including a 21-14, 21-17 setback to May-Treanor and Walsh.