CATZ Athlete Misty May and April Ross honored

After sharing the top of the podium in seven of eight FIVB events this past season, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are together again, this time as FIVB co-Sportswomen of the Year.

The FIVB handed out its SWATCH World Tour postseason awards on the women's side on Thursday, and May-Treanor and Walsh tied for the sportswoman honor as Brazilians Ana Paula Connelly and Larissa Franca, and Vasso Karadassiou of Greece were knotted in a three-way tie for third.

Connelly also won the best server category for the fifth straight year in balloting for the awards, which are conducted by SWATCH representatives, players, coaches, referees and officials associated with the international tour.

Hauling down top team honors for the third straight year was the tandem of Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil. The pair won five gold medals, three silvers and two bronze medals in 13 events during the 2007 FIVB campaign to win the points race and $328,400 in earnings. Franca was also named Best Setter.

Adding to her collection of Rookie of the Year honors was April Ross, who won the award on the AVP Crocs Tour in 2006. Her international efforts in 2007, which included a gold medal victory in Stavanger, Norway, with partner Jennifer Boss, earned Ross a second Rookie of the Year award, this time on the FIVB circuit. Ross also was named Most Improved Player on the AVP Tour this season.

But it was May-Treanor and Walsh who found their name atop many categories.

They also shared Best Offensive Player honors while Walsh was named Best Hitter and Best Blocker, two awards she's won the last three years, adding to the Most Outstanding Player of the Year award she won in Brazil in September. May-Treanor earned Best Defensive Player honors.

Tamsin Barnett of Australia and Germany's Laura Ludwig tied for the Most Improved Player award while Nicole Branagh and Boss tied for third. Shelda Bede of Brazil was named Most Inspirational followed in by Walsh and May-Treanor.

Elaine Youngs tied with Talita Antunes of Brazil and China's Jie Wang for second in the Best Blocker Award. Youngs also placed third on the Best Hitter list while May-Treanor was third in the Best Setter Award voting.

Other AVP regulars to receive votes were Tyra Turner, sportswoman, Most Improved and Best Blocker; Branagh, Best Offensive and Best Hitter; Walsh and Youngs, Best Setter; and May-Treanor, Boss and Ross, Best Hitter. Diane Pascua and Heidi Ilustre received votes in the Rookie of the Year category.

Stayin' alive: Ashley Ivy and Janelle Ruen dropped their first match in the main draw of the FIVB Hong Kong Challenger, 27-25, 21-13, to second-seeded Chen Xue and Xi Zhang of China on Friday but rebounded in the contender's bracket.

Seeded 15th in the 16-team field, Ivy and Ruen eliminated Canada's Anouk Boileau and Marie-Christine Mondor, 21-16, 21-16, to set up a match against Beh Shun Thing and Luk Teck Hua of Malaysia on Saturday.

Drawing the No. 4 seed in Hong Kong was Ilustre and Pascua, who eased through their opening match with a 21-16, 21-14 victory over Lyudmila Issayeva and Iryna Kokhan of Kazakhstan before getting past Shun Thing and Teck Hua, 21-11, 21-10.

Ilustre and Pascua will draw the top seed when they play China's Jia Tian and Wang on Saturday. Tian and Wang, and Xue and Zhang are ranked second and fourth respectively in Olympic qualification points but received wild cards into the tournament.

Mike Scarr is a senior reporter for avp.com.

Source: http://web.avp.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071109&contentid=33208