EAST QUOGUE, N. Y. - Top-seeded Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak captured their fifth-straight "major" title on the Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour here Sunday (August 3) by winning the $50,000 Evian Invitational on Tiana Beach.
Arce and McPeak, who have now won seven of 10 Evian Tour events this season, defeated second-seeded Karolyn Kirby and Nancy Reno 15-9 in the championship match to share the $12,300 fist-place prize.
Echo Entertainment of Encino, Calif., taped the Evian Invitational for distribution via FOX Sports and its regional outlets (to be aired the week of August 3).
The Evian Invitational title was the 13th for the Arce/McPeak partnership in their pro beach volleyball career together, including 11 on the Evian Tour.
Kirby and Reno, who have now dropped three of four championship matches this season to Arce and McPeak, split $9,350 for finishing second in the two-day, 16-match event featuring the top eight teams on the Evian Tour.
Arce and McPeak, who have now won 25-straight matches in Evian Tour grand slam events, advanced to the finals with a 15-12 win over third-seeded Barbra Fontana and Linda Hanley.
Kirby and Reno scored a 15-4 win over seventh-seeded Elaine Roque and Dennie Shupryt-Knoop to advance to their fifth final this season. The Kirby/Reno tandem won Evian Tour events this season at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. and Atlantic City, N. J., this season.
Fontana and Hanley led from the start to defeat Roque and Shupryt- Knoop 15-6 to split $8,200 for finishing third. Roque and Shupryt- Knoop, who posted two upset wins Saturday to advance to Sunday's final four, shared $6,000 for third-place. Arce and McPeak, who started their grand slam streak by winning last season's Evian Invitational tile in New York's Central Park, will be trying for a record-tying six "major" titles in a row next weekend (August 8-10) at the Evian National Championships in Hermosa Beach, Calif. Kirby and Liz Masakayan set the record with six-straight wins during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
Here are Sunday's results: Evian Invitiational semi-finals - Lisa Arce, Manhattan Beach, Calif./Holly McPeak, Manhattan Beach, Calif. (No. 1-seeded) def. Barbra Fontana, Manhattan Beach, Calif./Linda Hanley, Pacific Palisades, Calif. (3), 15-12; Karolyn Kirby, Brookline, Mass./Nancy Reno, Glen Ellyn, Ill. (2) def. Elaine Roque, Malibu, Calif./Dennie Shupryt-Knoop, Chicago, Ill. (7), 15- 4. Third-place match (winners finish third, split $8,200, losers place fourth, split $6,000) - Fontana/Hanley def. Roque/Shupryt- Knoop, 15-6. Championship match (winners place first, split $12,300; losers place second, split $9,350) - Arce/McPeak def. Kirby/Reno, 15-9.
Evian Invitational
Division A - B Play
August 2, 1997 on Tiana Beach, East Quogue, N. Y.
Standings (Seed) W L PF PA Ratio +/-
Division A
Arce/McPeak (1) 3 0 45 12 3.8 33
Poppinga/Rock (4) 2 1 36 35 1.0 1
Chisholm/Richardson (5) 1 2 29 42 0.7 -13
Castro/Stammer (8) 0 3 24 45 0.5 -21
Division B
Kirby/Reno (2) 2 1 43 33 1.3 10
Fontana/Hanley (3) 2 1 42 39 1.08 3
Roque/Shupryt-Knoop (7) 2 1 39 36 1.08 3
Blomquist/Schaefer (6) 0 3 29 45 0.6 -16
TOURNAMENT SUMMARY W-L MONEY
1st Lisa Arce/Holly McPeak (1) 5-0 $12,300
2nd Karolyn Kirby/Nancy Reno (2) 3-2 $9,350
3rd Barbra Fontana/Linda Hanley (3) 3-2 $8,200
4th Elaine Roque/Dennie Shupryt-Knoop (7) 2-3 $6,000
5th Linda Chisholm/Deb Richardson (5) 1-2 $3,750
6th Krista Blomquist/Christine Schaefer (6) 0-3 $3,000
7th Gail Castro/Gayle Stammer (8) 0-3 $2,900
8th Karrie Poppinga/Angela Rock (4) 2-1 Withdrew
The Schedule
Saturday, August 2
Arce/McPeak def. Chisholm/Richardson, 15-4; Poppinga/Rock def.
Castro/Stammer, 15-10; Kirby/Reno def. Blomquist/Schaefer, 15-9;
Roque/Knoop def. Fontana/Hanley, 15-12; Poppinga/Rock def.
Chisholm/Richardson, 15-10; Arce/McPeak def. Castro/Stammer, 15-2;
Fontana/Hanley def. Blomquist/Schaefer, 15-11; Kirby/Reno def.
Roque/Knoop, 15-9; Arce/McPeak def. Poppinga/Rock, 15-6;
Chisholm/Richardson def. Castro/Stammer, 15-12; Fontana/Hanley def.
Kirby/Reno, 15-13; Roque/Knoop def. Blomquist/Schaefer, 15-9.
Sunday, August 3
Kirby/Reno def. Roque/Shupryt-Knoop, 15-4; Arce/McPeak def.
Fontana/Hanley, 15-12; Third-place match - Fontana/Hanley def.
Roque/Shupryt-Knoop, 15- 6; Championship match - Arce/McPeak def.
Kirby/Reno, 15-9
The Lineup
Seed Team Points No. 1 Arce/McPeak 672.00 No. 2 Kirby/Reno 543.68 No. 3 Fontana/Hanley 512.00 No. 4 Poppinga/Rock 456.00 No. 5 Chisholm/Richardson 392.00 No. 7 Blomquist/Schaefer 380.00 No. 6 Roque/Shupryt-Knoop 360.00 No. 8 Castro/Stammer 328.00
The Schedule
*match schedule subject to change
Saturday, August 2
Times Court No. 1 Court No. 2 10 a.m./Matches 1 & 2/Pool A 1 vs. 5 4 vs. 8 11 a.m./Matches 3 & 4/Pool B 2 vs. 6 3 vs. 7 12 p.m./Matches 5 & 6/Pool A 4 vs. 5 1 vs. 8 1 p.m./Matches 7 & 8/Pool B 3 vs. 6 2 vs. 7 2 p.m./Matches 9 & 10/Pool A 1 vs. 4 5 vs. 8 3 p.m./Matches 11 & 12/Pool B 2 vs. 3 6 vs. 7
Sunday, August 3
If both pools finish with the match records of 3-0, 2-1, 1-2 and 0-3, the top two teams advance to August 3's final four with the following schedule. Tie-breaking - 1, point differential; 2, head-to-head record; 3, record against top teams.
10 a.m./Match 13 Pool A or B winner vs. Pool A or B runnerup
11 a.m./Match 14 Pool A or B winner vs. Pool A or B runnerup
12 p.m./Match 15 & 16 Fifth-Eighth Playoff
Pool A or B third vs. Pool A or B fourth (Court No. 1) and Pool A or B third vs. Pool A or B fourth (Court No. 2)
1 p.m./Match 17 Third-Place Match 2 p.m. Serving Contest 2:30 p.m./Match 18 Championship Match
Depending on the results from Saturday (August 2), other schedule options including round-robin and bracket play.
The second of four "major" events on the 1997 Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, seeding points from the Women's Professional Volleyball Association were used to determine the Evian Invitational field.
Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak, who have won six of the nine Evian Tour events this season, will be back to defend their Evian Invitational championship as the pair defeated Olympians Barbra Fontana and Linda Hanley to win the 1996 Evian Invitational last August at New York's Central Park.
Arce and McPeak will be seeking their fifth-straight "major" title after winning the last three grand slam titles of 1996 and the first 1997 "major" event June 29 at the Ocean Pacific U. S. Open in Huntington Beach, Calif.
The eighth annual Evian Invitational opens August 2 at 10 a.m. (EDT) with six rounds of matches being held on two courts in front of the Neptune Beach Club on Dune Road (70 Dune Road, East Quoque, N. Y.; 516/653-8700 or 653-8737 - David Block) in The Hamptons.
August 2's play will feature 12 pool play matches with the next day's schedule depending on the opening results. Depending on the August 3 format and schedule, the final two teams battle for the $12,300 first-place prize at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Echo Entertainment of Encino, Calif., will be taping the Evian Invitational for distribution via FOX Sports and its regional outlets. The event will be aired the week of August 3. For more information on the Evian Tour, please telephone 1-800-393-WPVA.
After holding the first three Evian Invitationals in Honolulu, Hi., Reno, Nev. and Las Vegas, Nev., the eight-team event has been held the past four seasons in the east, including a visit to Quincy, Mass., in 1993, Newport, R. I., in 1994 and 1995, and New York's Central Park in 1996.
The Arce/McPeak tandem has defeated three different teams for Evian Tour titles, including title wins over second-ranked Karolyn Kirby and Nancy Reno at Miami Beach, Fla. (15-12, April 6) and Irving, Tex. (15-13, June 15). Arce and McPeak lead the series between the two top Evian Tour teams 4-3 as Kirby and Reno scored a 15-11 win over Arce and McPeak to win the Evian Open at Atlantic City, N. J.
Fontana and Hanley, who placed fourth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, finished second to Arce and McPeak in Austin, Tex. (18-16, May 18), San Diego, Calif. (15-4, June 1) and Huntington Beach (15- 9, June 29).
Arce and McPeak, who have teamed to win nine of the last 13 Evian Tour events, scored a 15-9 win over Gail Castro and Gayle Stammer to capture the Deerfield Beach stop (April 20).
The WPVA's most valuable player and top defender the past two seasons, McPeak earned $150,625 in 23 domestic and international events in 1996. McPeak's $88,025 in WPVA 1996 earnings set a single- season mark.
A winner of 22 Evian Tour events since the start of the 1995 season, McPeak has earned $371,375 in her past 58 professional events, including $191,025 domestically.
Kirby, the WPVA's winningest player ever ($447,234.13 in earnings, 60 event titles and 602 match wins), and Reno have competed to win 11 pro beach titles together. The pair downed Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson 15-11 to capture the Cybergenics Open May 11 at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Fontana and Hanley, the last team to win a "major" title (1996 Ocean Pacific U. S. Open at Ocean City, Md.) before the current Arce/McPeak streak, has faced the Evian Tour's top team seven championship finals since the 1996 Evian Invitational.
Winners of four Evian Tour titles in 1996, Fontana and Hanley downed Arce and McPeak 15-12 to win an event in Portland, Ore., last September.