PESCARA, ITALY - Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak of the Women's Professional Volleyball Association, captured their second FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour title here Sunday (July 6) by defeating top-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar of Brazil 12-10 and 12-4 in the championship match.

Seeded third in the competition, Arce and McPeak also upset second- seeded Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva 15-7 to advance to their third international finale in six FIVB starts together.

The Arce/McPeak win also snapped a string of five-straight titles for women's pro beach volleyball teams from Brazil as the WPVA tandem was the last non-South American team to win an FIVB last August in Pusan, Korea.

The win was the 12th title in 21 pro beach starts for Arce and McPeak, who have captured 10 Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour championships in 15 domestic events. Overall, McPeak has now won 46 pro beach titles, including eight internationally, while Arce was netting her 12 crown.

Arce and McPeak, the top-ranked team on the Evian Tour by winning six of eight domestic events this season, have now posted a 115-17 pro match mark together with 20 final four finishes. The Arce/McPeak team also has a 3-3 match mark against Pires and Silva, including three wins in the last four meetings with FIVB No. 1- ranked team.

Arce and McPeak posted a second (losing 5-12, 12-4 and 7-12 finale to Monica Rodrigues/Adriana Samuel of Brazil) 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, who have won nine of the last 12 Evian Tour events, have never finished lower than fourth in any of their six FIVB starts as the tandem has now posted a 34-9 international mark together. Arce and McPeak are atop the international money standings with $26,000 each as both players have earned $41,050 on the Evian Tour this season.

Arce and McPeak, who now have a 2-2 career mark against Bede and Behar, shared $16,000 for winning the third FIVB event of the season while splitting $9,000 from the international bonus pool. Bede and Behar shared a combined $16,000.

Pires and Silva, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games gold medal winners, shared a combined $11,000 for third-place after downing the WPVA's Barbra Fontana and Nancy Reno 15-11. Fontana and Reno, who dropped a 15-10 decision to Bede and Behar in Sunday's first semi-final match, shared $8,000 overall.

Following Sunday's play, the WPVA competitors posted a 19-5 mark against their international rivals during two days of qualifying and three days of main draw play. Eight of the international wins were seed-breakthroughs.

Fontana and Reno, former Stanford teammates who were 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 15-5 in Saturday's championship bracket semi-finals.

Fontana and Reno were 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.

Five other teams from the United States placed here this weekend as 11th-seeded Danalee Bragado and Christine Schaefer finished seventh ($3,800, 3-2 record), 14th-seeded Krista Blomquist and Ali Wood ninth ($2,800, 4-0 qualifying, 3-2 main draw), sixth-seeded Karrie Poppinga and Angela Rock 13th ($2,200, 2-2), Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson 33rd (3-2) and Krsytal Attwood and Desiree Leipham 33rd (1- 2).

The United States players resume domestic competition next weekend (Saturday-Sunday, 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.