Injury Forces May-Treanor, Walsh to Default

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

Updated at 10 p.m. MT on April 30, 2011 – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.), seeded fifth, forfeited Sunday’s bronze medal match of the Olympic Bay Sanya Open due to the injury to May-Treanor (see below).

Brazil’s third-seeded Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes will take the bronze medal. The top-seeded team of Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca will play China’s second-ranked Chen Xue and Xi Zhang for the gold medal on Sunday.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 30, 2011) – The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.), seeded fifth, advanced to the semifinals of the Olympic Bay Sanya Open in China on Saturday, but had to default due to an injury to May-Treanor.

May-Treanor and Walsh opened consolation play on Saturday by defeating Austria’s seventh-seeded Stefanie and Doris Schwaiger, 21-15, 18-21, 15-5 in 43 minutes to advance to the semifinals against China’s Chen Xue and Xi Zhang.

However after losing the first set 21-13 and trailing 10-8 in the second, May-Treanor and Walsh withdrew from the match.

May-Treanor and Walsh are scheduled to play in Sunday’s bronze medal match against Brazil’s third-seeded Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes.

"She injured her left knee and we don't know how serious it is," Walsh told Xinhua News. "She is going to have treatment right now and we will see whether she can play or not tomorrow."

May-Treanor and Walsh fell to the consolation bracket on Friday after losing to Brazil’s top-ranked Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Silva in the fourth round.

Among other U.S. teams playing Saturday in China, Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), seeded 13th, defeated their sixth-ranked compatriots Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) in the consolation bracket, 31-29, 21-18 in 57 minutes. Kessy and Ross finish the tournament tied for seventh.

Akers and Branagh finished fifth after losing to Maria and Talita in the final round of consolation, 21-18, 24-22 in 44 minutes.

Complete information about the FIVB World Tour is available on the FIVB web site.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jennifer Kessy, Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor, Nicole Branagh