HB Open holds form

The favorites are moving on.

The top-seeded teams of Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh cruised to easy victories in women’s winner bracket action and Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rodgers rolled in the men’s tournament Friday as the AVP Huntington Beach Open concluded its second day of competition.

Both teams are headed to today’s quarterfinal round and are just three victories away from winning their third-straight tournament of the 2008 AVP Crocs Tour season.

The two teams won the first two tour events held in Miami and Dallas in April.

The men’s and women’s semifinal and title matches also will be played today. The men’s championship match schedule for 2:30 p.m. and the women’s final to follow at 4 p.m.

Today’s ction begins at 8 a.m. at the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

May-Treanor and Walsh, who will look to repeat as Gold medalists at the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing this summer, began defense of their Huntington Beach Open title by sweeping their first two opponents Friday.

They first defeated the No. 16-seeded team of Paula Roca/Stacy Rouwenhorst, 21-13, 21-8, then took care of the No. 8-seeded team of Carrie Dodd/Tatiana Minello, 21-16, 21-18.

Dalhausser and Rogers, who finished third at last year’s Huntington Beach Open, defeated No. 17-seed Dain Blanton/Eric Fonoimoana but needed three games to get past No. 8-seed Jason Ring/Aaron Wachtfogel, 21-13, 19-21, 15-8.

Fountain Valley High grad Brad Keenan and partner John Hyden, the No. 3 men’s seed, won their two matches Friday to advance to Saturday (today’s) quarterfinal round.

Kennan and Hyden beat Jeff Carlucci/John Mayer (21-13, 21-16) and in the third-round swept Dax Holdren/Will Strickland (21-18, 21-14). They will face No. 7-seed Nick Lucena/Sean Scott in the quarterfinal round.

The four men’s team to emerge without a loss Friday was No. 4-seed Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal who will face Dalhausser/Rogers in Saturday’s (today’s) quarterfinals.

In other men’s winner’s bracket first-round action Friday, Huntington Beach’s Ed Ratledge and partner Ryan Mariano of Lake Forest defeated Billy Allen/AJ Mihalic 21-16, 21-9. Ratledge and Mariano, though, were eliminated following consecutive close losses to Lucena/Scott (19-21, 21-14, 15-12) and Braidy Halverson/Jason Lee (21-18, 24-22).

In women’s play Friday, sisters Katie and Tracy Lindquist, graduates of Ocean View High, won three of four matches to move on to Saturday’s (today’s) quarterfinals. The pair, the No. 12-seed, will battle No. 8-seed Carrie Dodd/Tatiana Minello.

The Lindquists defeated No. 21 (qualifier) Angela McHenry/Lisa Rutledge (21-10, 21-10) in a winner’s bracket first-round game and then came back from a one-game deficit to defeat No. 5-seed Dianne DeNecochea/Barbra Fontana (20-22, 21-14, 15-13). The sisters then suffered their first loss (21-14, 21-16) to No. 4-seed Tyra Turner/Rachel Wacholder but bounced back in a contender’s bracket third-round match to eliminate No. 7-seed Angie Aker/Holly McPeak (21-15, 24-22).

The Lindquists are one of eight women’s teams still alive in the quest for the Huntington Beach Open title.

Another Huntington athlete, Saralyn Smith, teamed with Angela Knopf of Los Angeles and the duo, the No. 18-seed, won a first-round winner’s bracket game (21-18, 21-12) over No. 15-seed Alicia Polzin/Janelle Ruen. Smith and Knopf lost a second-round match to No. 2-seed Nicole Branagh/Elaine Youngs (21-13, 21-13). The loss dropped the two to contender’s bracket play where they first defeated No. 17-seed Jenelle Koester/Sarah Straton (21-18, 15-21, 17-15) but were eliminated from the tournament after falling to Akers/McPeak (21-19, 21-12).

Sara Dukes, also of Huntington Beach, and partner Chrissie Zartman of Hermosa Beach, went 1-2 in the tournament. The team, the No. 19-seed, lost a first-round winner’s bracket match to No. 14 Michelle More/Suzanne Stonebarger (21-18, 21-15), won a first-round contender’s bracket match by eliminating No. 13-seed Angela Lewis/Priscilla Lima (21-13, 13-21, 15-13) but then was eliminated by DeNecochea/Fontana (21-11, 21-14).

The Huntington Beach Open is the third leg of the Cuervo Gold Crown Series, a three-tournament series that included previous tournaments in Miami and Dallas.

The top four men’s and top four women’s teams in cumulative results through the end of the Huntington Beach Open main draw play on Saturday (today) will compete Sunday for the Cuervo Gold Crown men’s and women’s titles.

Each winning team will split a bonus of $25,000.