May-Treanor, Walsh advance in Berlin

BERLIN — With another week off before the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour returns to Long Beach, reigning Olympic and world champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are keeping pace by playing the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball’s Smart Grand Slam this week.

Top-seeded May-Treanor and Walsh advanced to their seventh straight women’s international final four Friday, while No. 3 Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers finished as the top team in their group for men’s pool play action in the Smart Grand Slam.

May-Treanor, a Newport Harbor alumnus, and Walsh last won in Berlin in 2005 when they collected their second FIVB World Championship, against Leila Barros and Ana Paula Connelly of Brazil.

May-Treanor and Walsh opened play Friday with a 19-21, 21-16, 15-11 win over Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany before more than 1,000 German fans. They played in front of 5,000 on center court, defeating Rieke Brink-Abeler and Hella Jurich 21-15, 21-16.

Jennifer Boss and April Ross, Rachel Wacholder and Tyra Turner, and Nicole Branaugh and Elaine Youngs failed to reach the final four matches.

Dalhausser and Rogers completed Smart Grand Slam pool play with a 3-0 record, earning th No. 3 seed in the elimination bracket and a first-round bye today.

Jake Gibb of Costa Mesa and Sean Rosenthal will face Mike Lambert, also of Costa Mesa, and Stein Metzger in an opening elimination match today. The winner will challenge Brazilian champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos in a second-round match.

May-Treanor and Walsh have won 12 straight matches in Berlin en route to advancing to their 44th FIVB semifinal in 51 international starts since they became partners in 2001. They have won 26 gold medals to rank second on the all-time FIVB women’s title list. Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil have 31.

-from staff reports