COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Seven U.S. women’s beach volleyball teams are in Sanya, China this week for the Sanya Open, an all-women’s tournament that is the second-to-last event on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour.
Leading the list of U.S. players in US$190,000 Sanya Open is two-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh (San Jose, Calif.), who will be playing in her first FIVB event since 2008. Walsh took time off from competition this summer following the birth of her son, Sundance, in May.
Walsh will be playing with Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.), who has pl
ayed with Walsh’s former partner, Misty May-Treanor (Santa Monica, Calif.). May-Treanor had planned to compete in Sanya with Branagh, but her plans changed when husband Matt Treanor’s Major League Baseball team, the Texas Rangers, advanced to the 2010 World Series.
Walsh and Branagh will advance directly to the tournament’s main draw, which begins on Thursday (Oct. 28). Two other teams will also begin play on Thursday, Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and also Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.).
Complete release is posted online at http://usavolleyball.org/news/article/39215.
