Olympic Beach Volleyball 2012: US Women Need Solid Outing to Meet in Final Match

We could be looking at an all-American gold-medal match in women's beach volleyball at the 2012 London Games.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings are set to meet Xue Chen and Zhang Xi in the semifinals of the tournament in what is sure to be a blockbuster showdown.

The "other" American team, Jen Kessy and April Ross will face off against Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca in the second semifinal matchup of the day.

It would be great for the sport of beach volleyball in the United States if the two American teams were able to get past their semifinal matchups and face each other in the gold-medal match.

The clash would draw an increased interest among the American youth, resulting in a boom in participation.

However, achieving that feat is going to be hard for both American teams.

May-Treanor and Walsh-Jennings are the No. 3 seed in this tournament. Their semifinal opponents are the No. 2 seed.

Xue and Zhang have beaten their American rivals before, most recently back in June at the Swatch 2012 Tour Grand Slam even in Moscow. That bout was a 21-14, 21-14 drubbing, with the Americans on the bad side of the result.

But May-Treanor and Walsh-Jennings are the best team in the world. They have proved that at two straight Olympic Games and are looking for the third gold medal in a row in London.

Kessy and Ross, on the other hand, don't have an Olympic gold medal to their credit but are on the verge of competing for one in these Games.

The only thing standing in their way is the Brazilian combination of Silva and Franca, the No. 1 ranked team in the world.

It will be tough for Kessy and Ross to get passed their upcoming opponents, but they have the height advantage. If they can set and spike better than they have throughout the entire tournament, we'll be looking at an all-American final.

Both American tandems need to play to the best of their abilities on Tuesday, as anything less than that will result in the two teams playing in the bronze-medal match.

May-Treanor and Walsh-Jennings sit atop the throne of women's beach volleyball, but Kessy and Ross are set to make a run at them. There would be no better way to bring about a changing of the guard than to see the two teams meet in the gold-medal match.