Gibb and Lambert move on

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. — For the first time since the start of the season, there’s a new top women’s seed on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour. Tyra Turner and Rachel Wacholder are occupying the No. 1 spot at the Seaside Heights Open.

Newport Harbor product Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, who have claimed the top seed at every AVP event this season, are playing in a Fédération Internationale de Volleyball event in Montreal this weekend. May-Treanor and Walsh have dominated the tour, winning every tournament aside from the season-opener in Miami.

Turner and Wacholder advanced to today’s matches after claiming consecutive wins Friday. They defeated No. 32 Bonnie Levin and Nicole Midwin 21-11, 21-11 and No. 16 Michelle More and Suzanne Stonebarger 21-15, 21-16.

Second-seeded Jake Gibb of Costa Mesa and Sean Rosenthal also advanced Friday, defeating No. 31 Kyle Denitz and Casey Patterson 21-14, 23-21. It took an hour and three games to do it, but Gibb and Rosenthal advanced after beating Aaron Wachtfogel and Scott Wong, 21-10, 20-22, 15-12.

Costa Mesa resident Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger, the No.3 seed, handily beat No. 30 Ivan Mercer and Jeremie Simkins 21-10, 21-15, then retired Jason Lee and Austin Rester 21-19, 21-19.

Lambert and Metzger, like the other men’s teams who have been competing in the FIVB events, have started to feel the wear on their bodies from the cross-Atlantic travel.

“You just figure that you’re gonna be tired for two months straight and you just have to find a way to play like that,” Metzger told AVP.com. “Mike made a good call — we got up early because we didn’t have a game until 11. So we came out here and practiced at 7:30 to kind of get things flowing, and we were terrible this morning, so it’s good we did that.”

Lambert and Metzger had one of the longest journeys to a tournament championship when they played through the first round loser bracket to win the Huntington Beach Open.

“We’re in the midst of 21 in a row and right now is the toughest because we’re doing cross-Atlantic every week and it really takes a toll,” he continued. “You really gotta focus on the positive and wake up every morning and just put one foot in front of the other and just do it.”

— From staff reports