Former Sailors duel again
On Father’s Day, Newport Harbor High volleyball coach Dan Glenn didn’t watch two of his girls play in the sand.
While Glenn’s former star players, April Ross and Misty May-Treanor, spent their Sunday on opposite sides of the net in Virginia Beach, Va., Glenn was with his family in Newport Beach.
Glenn was at the beach, away from the TV. He might want to stay at home on Sundays from now on.
Ross and May-Treanor are making a habit of playing against each other for all the marbles on the day of rest on national TV. For the second Sunday this month during the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Nivea Tour, Ross and May-Treanor led their respective teams to the final.
Glenn watched the first one, the Huntington Beach Open, two weeks ago on TV. Ross and teammate Jennifer Kessy stunned May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh, 14-21, 21-12, 15-11, to win their first AVP title on Southern California soil.
Glenn hasn’t seen the latest meeting between the two teams. He knows who won Sunday because former players have called him.
“Everyone has been trying to give me play-by-play,” Glenn said. “But I recorded it and I plan to watch it [Monday night].”
Thanks to TiVo Glenn can watch Ross and Kessy pull off the upset a day later. The two had a lot to celebrate, especially Ross who turned 28, after beating the top-seeded women’s team, 21-15, 18-21, 15-12, to claim their sixth career AVP title together.
The outcome doesn’t surprise Glenn, who from 1997 to 1999 coached Ross to three CIF Southern Section Division I-AA titles and twice to CIF State Division I titles.
“Certainly Misty was farther along in volleyball when they were younger,” said Glenn, who guided May-Treanor to section and state titles as a senior and a mythical national title in 1994, the year May-Treanor earned the USA Today National High School Player of the Year honor. “But Misty and April are similar. They’re so competitive.
“My dream is to see them play together for the first time.”
The high level at which Ross and Kessy are performing makes it unlikely that Glenn will see Ross and May-Treanor join forces. Ross and Kessy, former USC players, have won 15 times worldwide since teaming up in 2007.
Ross and May-Treanor missed each other at Newport Harbor. May-Treanor graduated a couple of years before Ross’ freshman season.
Then there’s the question of whether the former Sailors are close.
“I don’t know,” said Glenn when asked if May-Treanor and Ross were friends. “Those [gals] are always so busy. April’s getting married [to AVP player Brad Keenan] pretty soon. Misty’s husband [Matt Treanor] plays professional baseball in Texas [with the Rangers] and she also has her new book out.”
May-Treanor’s autobiography, “Misty: Digging Deep in Volleyball and Life” might be a hit at the bookstores, but Ross has the edge over May-Treanor this season on the sand.
The victory in Virginia Beach gave Ross and Kessy a 5-0 record against May-Treanor and Branagh this season. Three of those victories against the Olympians came during FIVB competition.
“When we’re at our best, we think we can compete with anyone in the world,” Ross told The Virginian-Pilot on Sunday.
Ross and Kessy have shown they can win on the big stage. They won the FIVB World Championships last year in Stavanger, Norway.
What’s not on their resume is the Olympics. May-Treanor is a two-time gold medalist, winning it each time with Kerri Walsh.
Glenn expects Ross and Kessy to be one of the two U.S. teams qualifying for the Olympic Games in London in 2010. The other team, Glenn said, will be May-Treanor and Walsh.
“Kerri is not playing this season because she had another baby,” said Glenn, who believes May-Treanor and Walsh will reunite when Walsh returns. “Ross and Kessy were close to qualifying [for the Beijing Olympics in 2008]. I told my son [Jaden] we’re going to London if both Misty and April qualify for the Olympics.”
In the men’s final, Estancia High graduate Matt Fuerbringer teamed with Nick Lucena to upset the top-seeded team of John Hayden and Sean Scott, 21-17, 21-19.
It’s the first title in two years for Fuerbringer.