Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14049
AUGUST 2010 SPORTS & EDUCATION 44 FEATURE : GOLDEN JOURNEY Newport Harbor High School as the MVP on their 1994 CIF Division I State Championship team. She also played with the Long Beach Ichiban volleyball club and attended CSULB's summer volleyball camp from sixth grade through the end of high school. By the time she was a senior, May-Treanor was the nation's top high school recruit and had her choice of collegiate volleyball programs. She chose CSULB, whose two previous NCAA championships drew top athletes from across the country to the school. Most of all, she wanted to learn from now- retired setting coach, Debbie Green, and head coach Brian Gimmillaro. "Brian is a big technical coach, Debbie was from the 1984 Silver Medal Olympics team, and it was a really good staff," she recalled. "They expected a lot from the athletes and pushed them to take their full potential and that's what makes them great. With every freshman, they have a vision of what they want and what they expect and they do everything they can to get you there." With May-Treanor as their setter, CSULB won the 1998 NCAA Championship and she was named co-MVP. After graduation and a brief stay with the U.S. National Indoor Volleyball Team, she would permanently leave the hardwood for the sand, teaming with Holly McPeak for a fifth- place beach volleyball finish at the 2000 Sydney Games. Soon after, May-Treanor's parents played matchmaker and partnered their daughter with four-time NCAA All-American, Kerri Walsh. Little did they know they had created one of the top beach volleyball teams of all time. It was during the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics where May-Treanor came to international prominence. To win their first gold medal, she and Walsh would need less than an hour to defeat a renowned Brazilian team. Their second would come during an undefeated streak that closed at an unbelievable 112 matches and 19 titles. It was a streak that lived on May-Treanor's ability to make the play when it counted. "At some point, at crunch time, you needed a big play and she always came up with one. I had confidence in her, her partner had confidence in her, and she had confidence in herself," said Tanner, now owner of the Irvine Tstreet Volleyball Club and an international beach volleyball consultant. In her book, May-Treanor also shares some unexpected surprises. She met Matt Treanor, now a catcher with the Texas Rangers, in physical therapy. They have been married for nearly six years and spend most of their time in Coral Springs, Florida, although they still keep a house near CSULB. An invitation to compete on Dancing with the Stars was a welcome opportunity, which ended in injury. May-Treanor ruptured her Achilles tendon during rehearsal, what she later would call the most difficult of all her injuries to rehabilitate. "I actually had to work to get back into shape," she said. Now, after an extended off-season to heal and with Walsh, raising two young sons, May-Treanor has teamed with AVP star, Nicole Branagh, for the current season. This month finds her in heavy competition on the AVP Tour until September and internationally until November. She is vague when asked if she will compete in the 2012 London Olympics ("You'll have to ask me in 2012") or if she will re-partner with Walsh ("No, not this year"). When the season does end, she will resume studying for her Master's Degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration at Concordia University as she eventually plans to coach and teach at the college level. Her off-season training will include two to three workouts each day with different trainers, including pilates. Off the court, May-Treanor serves on the Board of Governors for the Long Beach-based Southern California Special Olympics. She and her husband also founded the May-Treanor O'hana Foundation to support a variety of charitable activities. And while their careers now take them to different places, raising a family is still part of their future plans. In the meantime, May-Treanor stays grounded, still answers her fan mail herself, and welcomes every question – especially from young people who play competitive sports. "I think young athletes all around, boys and girls, are going to have peer pressure; you're going to be pulled in so many different directions, your parents are going to want something completely different than what you want," she said. "It's just important that you follow your heart. Do you what you want to do and what makes you happy. If you sometimes try too hard, that's when the wheels come off the bus, so just enjoy the journey." n