Top-seeded Fontana & Youngs net women's
Clearwater Beach volleyball gold medal; <br>Holdren & Rogers
capture second Florida title in VolleyHut Clearwater
Beach <br>Invitational men's final.<br><br>CLEARWATER
BEACH, FLA. - Top-seeded Barbra Fontana and Elaine
Youngs overcame <br>a first game loss in the best of
three women's Gold Medal match to capture the $15,000
<br>first-place prize by defeating third-seeded Holly McPeak and
Rachel Wacholder in the <br>$150,000 Volleyhut
Clearwater Beach Invitational here Sunday (April 22).<br>In
the men's Gold Medal match, third-seeded Dax Holdren
and Todd Rogers captured their <br>second pro beach
event in Florida in the past year by defeating
fourth-seeded Stein Metzger <br>and Kevin Wong 21-15 and 21-16
in 35 minutes to share the $15,000 first-place
prize.<br>After losing 21-18 in Sunday's first Gold Medal game,
Fontana and Youngs rallied to win <br>the next two games
21-10 and 15-7 to conclude the 55-minute title match
against McPeak <br>and Wacholder. Fontana and Youngs
concluded the weekend with a 5-0 match mark to net
<br>their first pro beach volleyball title in only their
second event together. Fontana (Manhattan <br>Beach,
Calif.), who captured her 17th pro beach title, and Youngs
(Encinitas, Calif.) <br>advance to the finals with a 21-18
and 2-20 win in 40 minutes over 14th-seeded
Linda<br>Hanley (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and Sarah Straton
(Hermosa Beach, Calif. Sunday's title <br>was the 11th for
Youngs. McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Wacholder
(Hermosa <br>Beach,Calif.), who were playing in their
first pro beach event together, shared $9,500 for the
<br>Volleyhut Clearwater Beach Silver Medal. McPeak, who was
playing in her 81st title match <br>with 55 Gold Medals,
and Wacholder advanced to the finals with a 22-20 and
21-16 win in <br>40 minutes over fourth-seeded Nancy
Mason (Belleville, Ill) and Leanne Schuster (Mesa,
<br>Ariz.) on the Pier 60 South center court. In the Bronze
Medal match, Mason and Schuster <br>scored a 21-17 and
21-17 win in 39 minutes over Hanley and Straton. Mason
and Schuster <br>shared $7,500 for the third-place
finish. Hanley and Straton, beach Olympians, split
$$5,250 <br>for their fourth-place finish in their first
pro beach event together. Hanley finished
fourth<br>with Fontana for the United States in the 1996 Atlanta
Olympic Games while Straton <br>competed in the Sydney
2000 Games for Australia.<br>Sunday's action concluded
with the men's medal matches. Holdren(San Diego,
Calif.) and <br>Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) captured
their seventh pro beach Gold Medal and fifth in the
<br>past year after starting the streak with a win last
April in Deerfield Beach, Fla.<br>Metzger (Honolulu,
Hi.) and Wong (Pearl City, Hi.) scored Sunday's
biggest upset by <br>eliminating Sydney 2000 Olympic Gold
Medallists and top-seeded Dain Blanton (Laguna <br>Beach,
Calif.) and Eric Fonoimoana (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
19-21, 21-15 and 19-17 in a<br>65-minute semi-final
match. Holdren and Rogers advanced to the men's title
match with a <br>21-18 and 23-21 semi-final win in 45
minutes over fifth-seeded Rob Heidger (Redondo <br>Beach,
Calif.) and Chip McCaw (Tulsa, Okla.).In the men's Bronze
Medal match, Blanton <br>and Fonoimoana notched a 21-16
and 21-18 win in 40 minutes over Heidger and
McCaw.<br>It was the first-time in five matches this weekend
that the Sydney Gold Medallists did not <br>have to
play a match with three games. Blanton and Fonoimoana
entered the weekend as a<br>defending Clearwater Beach
champions after winning the 1999 event.The opening domestic
<br>event on the 2001 BVA Pro Beach Volleyball Tour,
Volleyhut Clearwater Beach <br>Invitational was taped for
television replay on ESPN2 this summer.