Locals advance in AVP

LONG BEACH — Two beach volleyball players with ties to Costa Mesa, Misty May-Treanor and Jake Gibb, saw their respective teammates save their teams Friday.

Gibb’s partner, Sean Rosenthal, ran all over the sand like a mad man to make sure to put the opposition away in a decisive third game.

May-Treanor’s partner, Kerri Walsh, just looked out for her own safety at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ Long Beach Open.

Someone on the scaffolding overlooking the main court tossed a clamp a couple of feet in front of where Walsh sat.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” Walsh, standing while holding the clamp, yelled at three men above. “Someone is going to die out here with this.”

Walsh threw the clamp up to the men and sat back down.

She won’t need it any time soon. Walsh and May-Treanor already have a strong hold of the women’s game.

The world’s No. 1-ranked team continued to dominate, winning its 97th straight match to advance to today’s action unscathed.

May-Treanor, a Newport Harbor High product, can’t afford to lose Walsh to some freak accident. After this tournament, in which everyone expects the top-seeded duo to claim its 18th straight tournament title, May-Treanor and Walsh are off to Beijing to represent the U.S.

The Olympic Games start next month. And the duo looks poised to win gold, as it did at the 2004 Athens Games.

“We feel strong, and mentally we’re ready to head over to Beijing,” May-Treanor said after she and Walsh easily beat Ashley Ivy and Heather Lowe, 21-10, 21-12.

The first-round match lasted only 31 minutes. It was the top seeds’ only match of the day. Someone joked that the minimal scheduling had something to do with May-Treanor winning a national championship at Long Beach State in 1998.

Gibb and Rosenthal, the No. 3 seed in the men’s event, on the other hand, played twice. They admitted they need the extra work before representing the U.S. at the Olympics.

The one pushing them to today’s quarterfinal match at 8 a.m. against No. 10-seeded Pedro Brazao and Jose Loiola lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes, much longer than his Costa Mesa buddy May-Treanor’s match.

But Gibb was ready for more, especially after he and Rosenthal finished runner-up here last year.

Gibb thought a third match was in store later in the night after escaping with a 21-14, 17-21, 15-11 victory over Ryan Mariano and Ed Ratledge, who’s from Huntington Beach.

While signing autographs under an umbrella, Gibb said, “Oh boy! We got one more!”

A young fan quickly told Gibb that he and Rosenthal were through after two matches, the first a 21-17, 21-12 win against Billy Allen and Braidy Halverson.

So what did Gibb proceed to do? He smiled and took a photo with a gnome a fan handed him near Court No. 1. Someone then gave him a book on Karch Kiraly, pro beach volleyball’s winningest player and a three-time gold medalist at the Olympics.

Gibb thanked the man. Gibb said he plans on reading the book when he and Rosenthal leave for Beijing on Aug. 2.

Until the flight, Gibb and Rosenthal have to study how to beat the world’s No. 1 team of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers again. It has been awhile.

“We won the first one [against them this season] and then lost the last five,” Rosenthal said, adding that he and Gibb are prepared to face Dalhausser and Rogers in the Long Beach Open final for the second straight year.

At times, the twosome appeared far from the level Dalhausser and Rogers have reached in winning eight of their nine tour events this season.

Gibb and Rosenthal were rusty in the match against Mariano and Ratledge. Rosenthal said he and Gibb sat out last week’s Brooklyn Open due to nagging knee injuries.

Mariano and Ratledge irritated them in Game 2 by going on a late 6-2 run to win it.

“I was hoping not,” Gibb said of playing three games. “But the way they were playing, I don’t think we had a choice.”

In the final game, Gibb and Rosenthal built a comfortable 8-3 lead only to see the opposition rally again.

On match point, Rosenthal wildly ran all over the court, kicking up sand and losing his cap to keep the ball alive.

He finally got a chance to hammer it away and he delivered. Now, Rosenthal and Gibb are primed to hammer their way to today’s 1:30 p.m. final.

The women’s final is Sunday.

“I think we’re going to win it this year,” said Gibb, who has won nine AVP titles.

In the women’s main draw, Newport Harbor product April Ross teamed with Jennifer Boss to beat Lauren Fendrick and Paula Roca, 21-11, 21-17, in the first round. The No. 4 seed will face No. 5-seeded Tyra Turner and Rachel Wacholder today in the second round.

In the men’s main draw, Newport Beach’s Jason Ring and Costa Mesa’s Hans Stolfus lost their opener in three games to Newport Beach’s Ty Tramblie and Mike Morrison. No. 4-seeded John Hyden and Brad Keenan then swept Tramblie and Morrison.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].