May-Treanor, Ross will meet again

NEW YORK — There’s not really a lot of novelty anymore when April Ross faces Misty May-Treanor.

Sure, the two players on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour both went to Newport Harbor High. But when Ross and partner Jen Boss face May-Treanor and partner Kerri Walsh this morning in the semifinals of the Brooklyn Open, it’ll already be the sixth time this season their paths have crossed on the AVP Tour.

May-Treanor is 4-1 against the Costa Mesa resident Ross domestically and 2-0 internationally on the Federation Internationale de Volleyball tour. However, after Ross and Boss beat May-Treanor and Walsh in Hermosa Beach in May, May-Treanor and Walsh went on to record 39 straight victories on tour before losing last weekend’s final at the Boston Open to Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs.

Saturday, the top-seeded May-Treanor and Walsh swept through their competition at the Brooklyn Open. They defeated No. 8-seeded Carrie Dodd and Tatiana Minello, 21-12, 21-14, then got by No. 4 Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan, 21-16, 21-15 to advance to the semis.

Fifth-seeded Boss and Ross lost their first match of the day to Davis and Johnson Jordan, 21-13, 21-16. But they battled through the contender’s bracket for a 21-14, 17-21, 15-12 win over Dodd and Minello, then topped No. 6-seeded Dianne DeNecochea and Barbra Fontana, 21-16, 21-10.

On the men’s side, Costa Mesa resident Mike Lambert did the best among locals. But Lambert and partner Stein Metzger, the No. 2 seeds who had gotten through the winner’s bracket unscathed, lost in the semifinals to top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, 21-14, 21-18. Lambert and Metzger finished tied for third and split $13,300.

Estancia High grad Matt Fuerbringer and partner Casey Jennings, the No. 7 seeded team, lost a tough match in the winner’s bracket to Lambert and Metzger, 15-21, 21-19, 15-13. Fuerbringer and Jennings then eliminated Costa Mesa resident Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal, 21-19, 21-18.

But Fuerbringer and Jennings, who split up as a team at the start of the year before reuniting this summer, fell a match short of the semis by losing to Dalhausser and Rogers, 21-16, 21-17. They finished tied for fifth, splitting $8,500.

No. 3-seeded Gibb and Rosenthal finished tied for seventh, splitting $6,500.

Dalhausser and Rogers won their fourth straight AVP tournament, defeating No. 11-seeded Aaron Wachtfogel and Scott Wong, 23-21, 24-22, in the final.

— From staff reports