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June 10, 2007
Next stop: Charleston
AVP continues northward to The Holy City

The AVP Charleston Open is stop No. 9 on the tour this year and it also
marks the seventh-consecutive week of touring. Once play concludes in South
Carolina, stops No. 10 and 11 are spread out through the month of July.

But until then, here's a look at the midpoint stop of the 2007 season.

Charleston is a crucial event for some of the teams on tour who've yet to
break through as they would have liked. Teams who do well will have strong
momentum heading into the break, while teams who don't might want to do some
partner and self-evaluation.

For one team, it will be a welcome back to steady play, as Nicole Branagh
and Elaine Youngs took the Atlanta Open off. Branagh has been having issues
with an ankle injury, and the partners have not been able match their
season-opening title in Miami. But they will be back for the Charleston Open
just in time for international travel on the FIVB circuit, as the AVP takes
a two-and-a-half-week break.

Although they were not on a break in Atlanta, April Ross and Jen Boss, also
would like to get back to how they were playing in April. They finished
second in Miami and haven't been able to get back into the finals since.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh look to keep chugging along with their
usual dominance. The duo has won eight of the last nine AVP titles in 2007.
May-Treanor is hoping to tack onto her all-time title record, which stands
at 76. After the win in Atlanta, Walsh moved in to take sole possession as
the second all-time winner with 73, surpassing Holly McPeak's 72.

The men's top team, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, needs to get back into
the finals next weekend if they want to end a two-week skid of losing in the
semifinals in both Tampa and Atlanta.

Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal are ecstatic after having won their
second-straight championship final and believe that a three-peat is
possible.

"It's doable," Rosenthal said. "We gotta play well throughout the weekend,
and if we get there, who knows?"

As for Atlanta's runners-up, Stein Metzger and Mike Lambert now have two
finals appearances under their belts. While the second-place finish was not
what they had envisioned, they both agree that they are moving in the right
direction and are ready to keep raising the bar.

"I'm bummed that we didn't win, but at the same time we haven't been getting
to a lot of finals," said Lambert. "The fact that we got to the finals again
was kinda huge for us. We're going in the right direction, baby steps."

Legendary Karch Kiraly and Kevin Wong have been a big surprise as of late,
jumping from No. 10 to No. 4 last weekend. They've finished in second and
third place the last two tournaments.

They will be an interesting team to watch in the upcoming weeks, as Kiraly
makes his farewell tour leading up to his retirement at the end of the year.

AVP heads to Charleston for a three-day main draw Friday, June 15 through
Sunday, June 17, with a one-day qualifying round on Thursday, June 14.

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