Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings are the first women to qualify for the Beach Volleyball Finals after they eliminated the 2nd seeded Chinese team of Chen Xue and Xi Zhang in two straight sets 22-20, 22-20.
Walsh Jennings finished with three aces and four successful blocks. May-Treanor finished with 17 digs as the 2008 Olympic gold medalists will defend their gold medal.
Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor looked like they were in trouble early in the first set as China took a 3-0 lead. Zhang and Xue kept this lead until the match was 13-7.
USA's duo went on a 6-0 run to tie the set. They eventually took a 17-16 lead and after China tied the set at 17, they scored two points for the 19-17 advantage. This two point lead was enough for the USA ladies and they took the set on a failed attack from Chen Xue.
In the second set May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings wasted no time getting on the board and taking a lead. They took a quick 4-1 lead and maintainted the three-point lead for a good portion of the first half. China tied the game at 16 and took the 17-16 on back-to-back attacks from Chen.
With the match 20-19, China had the opportunity of winning the set, but Walsh Jennings attacked the net and Zhang could not dig it out.
USA won the last three points and took the match.
They will no await for an opponent. They will either face fellow American's April Ross and Jennifer Kessy or Brazilians ians Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca in the Women's Beach Volleyball Finals.
