May-Treanor in final

PARIS — Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh had no problem defeating 2000 Olympic champions Tamsin Barnett and Natalie Cook Saturday, blowing past the pair 21-15, 21-15 in the Federation Internationale de Volleyball’s Henkel Grand Chelem Saturday.

The 2004 Olympic gold medalists then moved on to defeat American Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tourmates Tyra Turner and Rachel Wacholder 21-16, 21-12 to advance to the women’s final today.

May-Treanor, a Newport Harbor product, and Walsh, will play Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China today for the gold medal and the $43,000 first-place prize.

The pair won their first two matches against the Chinese last year in Italy and Switzerland, but Tian and Wang defeated them last August 21-19 and 22-20, eliminating May-Treanor and Walsh from the Austrian Grand Slam. The fifth-place finish in Klagenfurt was May-Treanor and Walsh’s worst in FIVB competition since July 2002.

Turner— who is competing in her first international final four — and Wacholder had won their first seven matches in the Henkel Grand Chelem before meeting May-Treanor and Walsh.

They will seek the bronze today against Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca.

Mike Lambert of Costa Mesa and partner Stein Metzger will play Germans Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann for the men’s bronze medal, the same team they lost to in last year’s Henkel Grand Chelem.

Lambert and Metzger had five straight wins before they lost 21-16, 21-15 to Olympic champions Emauel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil.

— From staff reports