PESCARA, ITALY - The Women's Professional Volleyball Association tandems of Lisa Arce/Holly McPeak and Barbra Fontana/Nancy Reno have advanced to Sunday's (July 6) final rounds in this weekend's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event.

The two WPVA teams will be joined in the final four by the Brazilian tandems of Sandra Pires/Jackie Silva and Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar as all four teams advanced following play here Saturday (July 5) in the third international event of the season.

With the last four matches to be played Sunday, the United States competitors have posted a 16-3 mark against their international rivals during two days of qualifying and two days of main draw play. Five of the international wins have been seed-breakthroughs.

Seeded third in the competition, Arce and McPeak won twice Saturday by defeating WPVA rivals Danalee Bragado and Christine Schaefer 15- 1 and Fontana and Reno 15-5. Arce and McPeak will face Pires and Silva in Sunday's second semi-final match.

Seventh-seeded Fontana and Reno, former Stanford teammates who are playing together for the first-time in their pro beach careers, upset second-seeded Pires and Silva 15-8 before losing to Arce and McPeak. Fontana and Reno advanced to the final four with a 15-7 over 10th-seeded Eva Celbova and Sona Dosoudilova of the Czech Republic.

Fontana and Hanley face top-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar in Sunday's first semi-final match. The Brazilians advanced to the final four with wins over ninth-seeded Laura Bruschini and Ana Maria Solazzi of Italy 15-9 and fifth-seeded Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia 15-4.

Pires and Silva, who won the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, rebounded from their Fontana/Reno upset to defeat fourth- seeded Monica Rodrigues and Adriana Samuel of Brazil 15-11, 11th- seeded Bragado and Schaefer 15-9 and Cook and Pottharst 15-10. The tandems of Rodrigues/Samuel and Cook/Pottharst won the silver and bronze medals at the Atlanta Games, respectively.

Arce and McPeak, the top-ranked team on the Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour by winning six of eight domestic events this season, are playing in their 21st pro event together as the pair has now posted a 112-17 match mark with 11 titles.

Competing in their sixth FIVB event, Arce and McPeak posted a second (losing 5-12, 12-4 and 7-12 finale to Rodrigues/Samuel) and third in the first two FIVB beach events this season at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Feb. 13-16) and Melbourne, Australia (March 13- 16), respectively.

Arce and McPeak have never finished lower than fourth in any of their six FIVB starts as the tandem has now posted a 31-9 international mark together. Winners of 10 Evian Tour titles, Arce and McPeak captured an international title at Korea last August.

Fontana and Reno are no strangers to FIVB finals as both players advanced to their 13th international final fours. Fontana won two FIVB titles with Lori Forsythe (Japan 1994) and Linda Hanley (Santos, Brazil, 1995).

Reno has won nine international titles, including six in 1995 with McPeak and three with Karolyn Kirby (one each in 1992, 1993 and 1995). On the 1997 Evian Tour, Reno has played in seven events with Kirby as the pair has won twice domestically this season.

Bragado and Schaefer, who upset eighth-seeded Maike Friedrichsen and Danja Musch 15-9 Saturday, finished seventh to split $3,800. Bragado and Schaefer were competing for the eighth-time together as the pair has compiled a 26-16 match mark with international finishes of ninth in Brazil and seventh in Australia.

Krista Blomquist and Ali Wood, who qualified for the main draw by winning four matches, finished ninth in the 32-team main draw. After eliminating highly-regarded Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson 15-5 and 15-5 in a qualifying playoff, Blomquist and Wood won three of five main draw matches to split $2,800.

Bruschini and Solazzi ousted the 14th-seeded Blomquist and Wood, who eliminated WPVA rivals Karrie Poppinga and Angela Rock 15-10 earlier Sunday. Poppinga and Rock, who had finished fifth and fourth in the first two FIVB events this season, placed 13th to share $2,200.

The Blomquist/Wood tandem was playing in their third pro event together after posting a 7-4 match mark in two Evian Tour earlier this season at Austin, Tex. (seventh) and San Diego, Calif. (ninth).

Poppinga and Rock, the fourth-rated team on the Evian Tour, were playing in their 11th pro event together with a 39-21 match mark. The tandem had posted three thirds and two fifths in their last five domestic events this season.

Davis and Johnson were playing in their fourth pro event together after competing in the first three Evian Tour events this season at Miami Beach, Fla. (25th), Deerfield Beach, Fla. (seventh) and Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (second).

At the stop at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Davis and Johnson dropped a 15-11 decision to Kirby and Reno in the championship match after posting a record seven-straight upset wins.

The United States players resume domestic competition next weekend (July 12-13) in Chicago, Ill., on North Avenue Beach for the WPVA Chicago Open presented by Bravo Card. The next FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event for WPVA players is July 23-26 in Marseille, France.