EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. - Career best finishes by two Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour tandems highlighted play at last weekend's (May 30-June 1) Mercedes-Benz Open Presented by Cybergenics.

The Women's Professional Volleyball Association takes this weekend off before heading east for events in Irving, Tex. on Mustang Beach at Las Colinas June 13-15 and on the beachfront at the Atlantic City (N. J.) Hilton June 20-22. Huntington Beach, Calif. hosts the Ocean Pacific U. S. Open June 27-29, the first of four "major" events on the 1997 Evian Tour.

The teams of Pat Keller/Marla O'Hara and Jennifer Meredith/Leanne Schuster posted their best finishes together at the San Diego event at Mariner's Point on Mission Bay last Sunday (June 1).

Seeded 10th, Keller and O'Hara finished fifth in the Mercedes- Benz Open with a pair of upset wins over seventh-seeded Linda Chisholm and Deb Richardson 15-9 and second-seeded Barbra Fontana and Linda Hanley 15-10 Saturday (May 31).

Meredith, who is currently the top rookie on the 1997 Evian Tour, and Schuster placed seventh in San Diego. The finish was Meredith's best-ever while Schuster was tying her career best placement. The 12th-seeded team in San Diego, Meredith and Schuster downed sixth-seeded Danalee Bragado and Christine Schaefer 15-11 before dropping a 15-9 elimination match to Fontana and Hanley.

Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak continued to solidify their position as the top-ranked team on the WPVA's circuit by winning their fourth title this season in San Diego. The Arce/McPeak tandem have now won 12-straight matches after defeating Fontana and Hanley 15-4 in the Mercedes-Benz Open finale. The title was the eighth for Arce and McPeak, who have won seven of the last nine Evian Tour events.

Third-seeded Karrie Poppinga and Angela Rock finished third for the third-straight event by scoring a 15-6 win over eighth- seeded Gail Castro and Gayle Stammer, who had finished 17th in the last event at Austin, Tex., May 18 when Stammer was forced out of the event with back problems.

The second-ranked WPVA team of Karolyn Kirby/Nancy Reno did not compete together in San Diego as Reno elected to sit out the event due to right shoulder stiffness after hurting herself in Austin. Reno is expected back for the Irving stop as Kirby played with Liz Masakayan in San Diego.