Misty May-Treanor is ready to return to beach volleyball after an Achilles tendon injury she endured while participating on Dancing With the Stars in 2008. Long-time teammate Kerri Walsh is pregnant, so she will not be returning soon.
As a result, May-Treanor has teamed up with Nicole Branagh. Branagh, who previously played with Elaine Youngs, was voted the most valuable player of the Association of Volleyball Professionals league in 2009.
May-Treanor and Branagh will play in their first tournament Saturday, April 17, 2010 and Sunday, April 18, 2010 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Though May-Treanor is hopeful that she and Branagh will win the tournament, she cannot be certain, she told USA Today.
"Those other teams have experience playing together," May-Treanor told USA Today in an article published April 15, 2010. "I'd like to say we'll win right away, but we're a new team. We've only been training two and a half months."
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh: Women's Beach Volleyball Champions
Because she has won more beach volleyball matches than any other woman in beach volleyball history, losing is not as familiar for May-Treanor as it is for others. May-Treanor has won 105 tournaments, most of them Walsh. In fact, as a team, the duo has at times seemed almost unbeatable.
Together, May-Treanor and Walsh became the first women's beach volleyball pair to win two Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008, as well as the first team to win three World Championships in 2003, 2005 and 2007. The pair did not play in the 2009 World Championships due to May-Treanor's injury and Walsh's first pregnancy, but if they had, many believe May-Treanor and Walsh would have been favored to win a fourth World Championship title.
May-Treanor and Walsh have the two longest winning streaks among women's beach volleyball players. During the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the pair won 112 matches in a row. The previous longest streak was 90 matches in a row, which May-Treanor and Walsh set in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The two have played together since 2001.
May-Treanor and Walsh in 2012 Olympics?
May-Treanor and Branagh will play together throughout the summer season, but May-Treanor has not ruled out the possibility that she and Walsh may play together again in the future. Some speculate the pair will team up again before the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games.
May-Treanor, though, is not concerned with future seasons. She's living in the now and thinking only of winning this year, she told USA Today.
"That's way too far away," May-Treanor told USA Today. "I'm not even thinking about that. I'm thinking about playing this weekend, and then the tournament after that."
Related Articles:
Read about the debut tournament of May-Treanor and Branagh.
References:
Leon Moore, David. May-Treanor returns to beach volleyball with new partner. USA Today. Accessed April 16, 2010.
Ackerman, Joe. Best of 2000s: Team of the Decade - Misty May/Kerri Walsh. NBC Universal Sports. Accessed April 16, 2010.
Kristen Nichols - Kristen is a freelance reporter and copywriter covering Olympic and Paralympic sport for Suite101.com. Kristen's love of sport developed ...
