POSTED: Sunday August 19th 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Youngs and Branagh score major upset in women?s championship at inaugural AVP Crocs Tour Bob?s Stores Boston Open

CONTACT:

Kimberly Moran, kimberlym@bzapr.com, 818-694-3103 cell

Greg Ball, gregb@bzapr.com, 760-271-9183 cell

 

 

 

They defeat top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh in title match for their third tournament win this season

 

QUINCY, Mass., August 19, 2007 ? Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh secured a dramatic victory Sunday in the women?s final of the inaugural AVP Crocs Tour Bob?s Stores Boston Open, beating top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, 15-21, 21-19, 16-14.

 

The victory was the third this season for Branagh and Youngs, seeded second in Boston.

 

?It?s great to be in a final with Kerri and Misty and win,? Branagh said. ?For me, this is just my third tournament win, so every tournament win is still a big deal.?

 

Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers won the men?s final on Saturday, beating Casey Jennings and Matt Fuerbringer, 21-16, 21-12 in the championship match.

 

The AVP Crocs Tour, in partnership with Fenway Sports Group, has brought professional beach volleyball back to New England for the first time in more than a decade. The AVP Crocs Tour Bob?s Stores Boston Open ran Thursday through Sunday at Marina Bay in Quincy.

 

Both the men?s and women?s finals of the Boston Open were televised nationally Sunday on NBC.

 

Youngs and Branagh got to the championship match by beating fourth-seeded Tyra Turner and Rachel Wacholder, 21-12, 21-16 in the semifinals. They lost just two games in their five matches throughout the tournament.

 

Sunday?s victory was Youngs? 38^th on Tour and just the third for Branagh. Youngs and Branagh also won tournament stops this year in Miami and Seaside Heights, N.J.

 

?We always believed that we could win this match,? Youngs said, ?even when things were shaky and they made a 7-0 run in the first game.?

 

May-Treanor and Walsh advanced to the title game with a 21-11, 21-14 semifinal win over sixth-seeded Dianne DeNecochea and Barbra Fontana. Their defeat in the championship match ended a 39-match winning streak on the AVP Crocs Tour, and halted a 21-match championship-match winning streak (including international play).

 

?I think (Youngs and Branagh) served very well when they needed to,? May-Treanor said. ?Their serves picked up, and that got us in trouble. We?re used to them switching things up, but when they?re hot serving, that?s when you really have to bear down and make good passes.?

 

May-Treanor and Walsh had won 10 of the 11 AVP Crocs Tour events they had played this season prior to the Boston Open.

 

?Today was just a matter of making too many mistakes,? Walsh said. ?That?s not like us. This is a fluke for us, as far as I am concerned. We missed an opportunity here, but we?re going to learn from it.?|

 

The winners of the AVP Crocs Tour Bob?s Stores Boston Open get a serious boost in the Crocs Cup standings, as each of the five network televised events late in the season are worth double the amount of points that a regular event offers. The winners will take home 720 points and put themselves in solid standing with just two regular-season events remaining in the season-long points race.

 

With the conclusion of the Boston Open, the Crocs Cup standings are as follows:

MEN

1. Phil Dalhausser / Todd Rogers, 5,418
2. Mike Lambert / Stein Metzger, 4,788
3. Jake Gibb / Sean Rosenthal, 4,662
4. Anthony Medel / Fred Souza, 3,654
5. John Hyden / Brad Keenan, 3,528
6. Casey Jennings / Mark Williams, 1,908
7. Matt Olson / Jason Ring, 1,872
8. Adam Jewell / Jose Loiola, 1,836
9. Matt Fuerbringer / Sean Scott, 1,764
10. Karch Kiraly / Kevin Wong, 1,710

WOMEN
1. Misty May-Treanor / Kerri Walsh, 5,238
2. Nicole Branagh / Elaine Youngs, 4,590
3. Tyra Turner / Rachel Wacholder, 4,482
4. Annett Davis / Jenny Johnson Jordan, 4,032
5. Jennifer Boss / April Ross, 3,780
6. Carrie Dodd / Tatiana Minello, 2,970
7. Dianne DeNecochea / Barbra Fontana, 2,952
8. Angela Lewis / Priscilla Lima, 2,700
9. Angie Akers / Brooke Hanson, 2,556
10. Katie Lindquist / Tracy Lindquist, 2,304

 

The regular season of the 2007 AVP Crocs Tour will culminate in Cincinnati, Ohio with the presentation of the Crocs Cup to the top men?s and women?s team of the season. A team?s points are based upon its best 14 point totals, with cable broadcasted events worth single points, NBC broadcasted events worth double points, and the season finale in Cincinnati, which will be

broadcast live on MyNetworkTV, worth triple points. The Crocs Cup is a trophy designed exclusively and crafted for the AVP Crocs Tour by Tiffany & Co. Log on to www.avp.com for the most up-to-date team standings.

 

The AVP recently launched avp.comTV Mosaic, which allows subscribers to watch up to four live matches at once online. The AVP has teamed with Major League Baseball Advanced Media to power the new avp.com, a redesigned Web site that uses award-winning technology to give fans the chance to watch multiple AVP games simultaneously. As the fan base of the AVP and the sport of beach volleyball continues to grow, the new avp.com serves as a portal to enhance the fan experience. For more information, please visit www.avp.com.

ABOUT THE AVP PRO BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOUR, INC.

AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Inc. is a leading lifestyle sports entertainment company focused on the production, marketing and distribution of professional beach volleyball events worldwide. AVP operates the industry’s most prominent national touring series, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, which was organized in 1983. Featuring more than 150 of the top American men and women competitors in the sport, AVP is set to stage 18 events throughout the United States in 2007. In 2004, AVP athletes successfully represented the United States during the Olympics in Athens, Greece, winning gold and bronze medals, the first medals won by U.S. women in professional beach volleyball. For more information, please visit www.AVP.com.

ABOUT FENWAY SPORTS GROUP:

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) is a wholly owned subsidiary of New England Sports Ventures (NESV).  In addition to Fenway Sports Group, NESV owns the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, and 80 percent of New England Sports Network.  A premier sports marketing organization headquartered in Boston, FSG specializes in representation, sponsorship sales, event marketing and strategic marketing consulting for corporations who conduct business in sports and entertainment. For more information please visit www.FenwaySportsGroup.com.

 

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Quick quotes

 

Elaine Youngs

?We always believed that we could win this match, even when things were shaky and they made a 7-0 run in the first game.?

 

?This is very rewarding. We?ve been very unsuccessful against them, aside from beating them in the first tournament of the year.?

 

?We have a lot of heart and a lot of desire. Today worked out for us, against a pretty unbeatable team. I?m really proud of our effort today, and proud of my partner.?

 

Nicole Branagh

?It?s great to be in a final with Kerri and Misty and win. For me, this is just my third tournament win, so every tournament win is still a big deal.?

 

?(Youngs) said when it was 14-14, ?I want this sideout, Nicole. I want to serve from this side here.? So we sided out, and EY did it. She really came through. Today was great. I think we did well all weekend. If teams got runs on us, we changed a few things and weren?t hesitant.?

 

Kerri Walsh

?Today was just a matter of making too many mistakes. That?s not like us. This is a fluke for us, as far as I am concerned. We missed an opportunity here, but we?re going to learn from it.?

 

?We made a couple too many errors in Game 2 ? I think I remember three touch blocks that Misty set me up and I hit right back to them. Those are good points, and I usually convert on those. I think that was the difference today.?

 

?The crowd was awesome. Every hour, it felt like the crowd was building and building in theie energy. We had a lot of great fans for our first time here. Hopefully we can come back and spread the love. Boston?s a great city.?

 

?This city is very special. The people are very sports friendly. They appreciate us, and we appreciate them. Just being in Boston is very unique.?

 

Misty May-Treanor

?I think (Youngs and Branagh) served very well when they needed to. Their serves picked up, and that got us in trouble. We?re used to them switching things up, but when they?re hot serving, that?s when you really have to bear down and make good passes.?

 

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2007 AVP CROCS Tour
$200,000 AVP Bob?s Stores Boston Open
Boston, Mass.
August 12-16, 2007

Women?s Main Draw Tournament Results (Sunday, August 19)

Contender?s Bracket, fifth round (losers eliminated, place fifth, split $8,500)
Dianne DeNecochea, San Diego / Barbra Fontana, Manhattan Beach, Calif. (No. 6-seeded main draw team) d. Jennifer Boss, San Clemente, Calif. / April Ross, Costa Mesa, Calif. (5), 23-21, 23-25, 15-11 (72 minutes);
Tyra Turner, Fort Myers Beach, Fla. / Rachel Wacholder, Redondo Beach, Calif. (4) d. Nancy Mason, Hermosa Beach, Calif. / Logan Tom, Long Beach, Calif. (12), 21-18, 21-18 (41).

Semifinals (losers eliminated, place third, split $13,300)
Misty May-Treanor, Coral Springs, Fla. / Kerri Walsh, Hermosa Beach, Calif. (1) d. DeNecochea / Fontana (6), 21-11, 21-14 (45);
Nicole Branagh, Torrance, Calif. / Elaine Youngs, Durango, Colo. (2) d. Turner / Wacholder (4), 21-12, 21-16 (34).

Championship Match (winners place first, split $28,000; losers place second, split $21,000)
Branagh / Youngs (2) d. May-Treanor / Walsh, 15-21, 21-19, 16-14 (99).

 

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