May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Walsh (Santa Clara, Calif.) did not drop a set in the World Championship tournament and defeated Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China, 21-16 and 21-10 in the final. Opponents averaged 14 points per set in 16 sets against the U.S. powerhouse team.

In becoming the first men’s or women’s team to win three-straight world titles since the start of the FIVB championships in 1997, May-Treanor and Walsh won a pair of matches over teams from China on Saturday at the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships powered by 1to1 energy to share the US$60,000 first-place prize in the $1-million “Beach Bash” in the Swiss Alps.

In winning their 22nd-straight international match before a jammed-packed centre court of more than 7,000 fans over Tian and Wang of China, May-Treanor and Walsh built on their earlier successes in the SWATCH-FIVB World Championships from the 2003 finale in Rio de Janeiro and two years ago in Berlin. Not to mention the gold medal they won at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

“This was truly a team effort,” said the 28-year old Walsh, who was selected as the SWATCH most outstanding player for the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships. “I am very fortunate to play with the best overall player in the game. I am embarrassed to win this honor because Misty plays such a big role in our game. She handled almost every serve in both matches today and was nearly flawless. We are a great combination that seeks to improve with each match.”

May-Treanor and Walsh have now won 28 of 37 gold medal matches on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour since forming their partnership 52 events ago at the start of the 2001 season.

The Americans rank behind the legendary Brazilian tandem of Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede as the winningest women’s international beach volleyball team.

When asked about winning another Olympic gold medal, May-Treanor said that Saturday’s win “was important in terms of qualifying, but we still have more than a year before competing in Beijing. A lot of things can happen in the next 12 months. Our only concern is getting better with each tournament and maintaining a consistent level of play.”

After May-Treanor and Walsh scored a 21-14 and 21-19 win in 40 minutes over Chen Xue and Xi Zhang in Saturday morning’s first semifinal, Tian and Wang had to rally from a 25-23 first-set setback to Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca to win their way to the final with a 21-19 and 15-11 win in 64 minutes over the Brazilians.

Saturday’s final was also the sixth meeting between the two teams with May-Treanor and Walsh winning four times, including a 21-15 and 21-12 victory in the Paris grand slam gold medal match last month. The next week in Norway, the Chinese defeated the May-Treanor and Walsh 21-19 and 21-19 in the Stavanger semifinals. For their fifth silver medal in 11 starts this season, Tian and Wang split $45,000.

For the 2007 season, May-Treanor and Walsh have played in five SWATCH stops with a match mark of 34-1 with four gold medals and a bronze to their credit with $202,000 in earnings. Saturday’s 1,000 SWATCH points also aided the Americans’ Beijing 2008 Olympic hopes as a team needs eight SWATCH finishes to qualify for the Summer Games in the Chinese capital next August.

In the bronze-medal match, Juliana and Larissa maintained Brazil’s record of claiming a women’s medal in each SWATCH-FIVB World Championships with a 19-21, 21-19 and 18-16 win in 63 minutes over Xu and Zhang. The Brazilians shared $35,000 for third-place with Xue and Zhang splitting $28,000 for fourth-place.

More information is available on the FIVB beach volleyball web site at www.fivb.org/en/BeachVolleyball/index.asp.

World Championship Sports Network (WCSN), the premier destination for fans of Olympic and lifestyle sports, is offering the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) beach volleyball season via its broadband network at www.WCSN.com, available to everyone in the USA and its territories. www.WCSN.com will have extensive FIVB webcasts of every World Tour and Grand Slam event, including free coverage of the 2007 World Championships.