In the battle of the Beijing Olympics medalists, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh defeated Chen Xue and Xi Zhang on Saturday at the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour Grand Slam tournament on a picturesque lake in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Throughout the four days of intense competition, the undefeated U.S. gold medalists, May-Treanor and Walsh, gained momentum from the initial round of pool play where they battled it out to three sets in two of the matches.
Progressing into the finals, they defeated the 7th-ranked Germans, 11th-ranked Spaniards, and 8th-ranked Dutch pair of Sanne Keizer and Marleen Van Iersel who pushed the Americans to a third set in the semifinal round.
In the championships, the 4th-ranked May-Treanor and Walsh handily won the first set, 21-14 against the Beijing Olympis bronze medalists.
However, the strong Chinese partners rebounded in the second set where the score was knotted 19 times. The 2nd-ranked duo nearly pulled out a win in the second match at the 24-23 mark. While relying on their successful long-term partnership dating back to 2001, the Americans reeled off three straight points to win their 38th FIVB beach volleyball title by a 26-24 margin.
“We always know that these Chinese players will never quit and they are very, very good, but Misty and I were on fire and we just weren’t about to lose,” said Walsh in a FIVB press release.
The Dutch duo, Keizer and Van Iersel, bested the 3rd-ranked Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes in two sets, 21-18, 24-22. While the top-ranked Brazilian couple, Larrissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Da Silva, uncharacteristically bowed out to land in ninth place.
Other top American finishers included Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Hanson, as well as Nicole Branagh and Angie Akers, who finished in fifth and ninth place ties, respectively.
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