Zooming in on perfection

Patrick Laverty

On the Association of Volleyball Professionals Pro Beach Volleyball

Tour Web site, the current poll question asks whether Misty May and

Kerri Walsh will go undefeated this season.

The three multiple choice answers are rather simple: Yes, no and

no, but they will win every title.

But in answering the question herself, May wasn’t as

straightforward.

“I would like to say yes, but I don’t want to jinx anything,” May

said.

The fact that something might be jinxed after five tournaments is

quite unbelievable in itself.

May, a Newport Harbor High graduate, and Walsh have played in five

tournaments this season going into this weekend’s Huntington Beach

Open and they’ve won all five.

They’ve played 26 matches in those five tournaments and won all

26.

In just three of those 26 matches have they even gone three sets.

“I’m 26, I told Kerri if we play three sets it’s going to give me

a coronary by the time I’m 30,” May said.

It’s easy to joke when a team is as dominant as May and Walsh have

been this season, but opponents can’t be laughing, especially when

May insists that the duo still has a lot to learn.

“We’re young,” May said. “We’re still learning a lot and growing

together as a team. This is just our third year together. We’re not

halfway there, especially in this game, I think you can’t learn

enough.”

That has to be a scary though for opponents considering May and

Walsh finished first or second in 19 of 29 tournaments in their first

two years together.

But this is their first season playing on the AVP Tour after

playing solely on the international beach circuit last year. They had

thought about playing on the American tour last season, but May was

still recovering from reconstructive surgery on her knee, a result of

a torn posterior cruciate ligament she suffered while at Long Beach

State in 1996 and couldn’t handle a heavy schedule that would have

had her playing nearly every weekend.

The wait proved fortuitous as May has capitalized on the recent

convergence of television and pro beach volleyball. She was a part of

the first AVP women’s final to be televised live two weeks ago at

Manhattan Beach.

Like the proceeding four AVP tournaments this season, May and

Walsh were crowned champions.

The Huntington Beach Open women’s final is set to be televised

live Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and May and Walsh are expected to be

competing in that final.

“I think it’s awesome,” May said. “There [are] three televised NBC

events: Manhattan, Huntington and Chicago. That definitely helps, not

only with individual sponsorships, but it helps the tour too.”

Having competed against each other since high school, May and

Walsh both moved on to the beach from the indoor game in the past few

years, another factor in their continued development.

At 6-foot-3, Walsh combines well with the 5-foot-10 May.

“She’s a great athlete, especially for someone her size” May said.

“You don’t find many players that big that can pass and set.”

The partnership led to the championship on the FIVB Tour last

season, where they earned $97,000. Through five AVP tournaments this

year, they’ve notched another $39,150. That’s $15,000 more than the

leading money winner on the men’s side.

They’ve also taken a large lead in the race to be one of the two

American teams to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games. May lost in the

quarterfinals of the 2000 Olympic Games while playing with Holly

McPeak. She and Walsh currently hold an 800-point advantage over

second-place McPeak and Elaine Youngs in Olympic qualifying, which is

determined by a team’s eight-best finishes on the FIVB Tour over a

two-year period.

“That’s our No. 1 goal,” May said. “We want to medal in the

Olympics.”

They’ll get there by continuing to beat up on their competition on

both the AVP and FIVB tours.

They might just go undefeated in doing so.