PUSAN, KOREA - Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak of the Women's Professional Volleyball Association have advanced to the final rounds of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event after winning both of their matches here Saturday (August 16).

Seeded second in the competition, Arce (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) face fifth-seeded Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia in the second of two semi-final matches Sunday with the winners playing later in the day for the $25,000 first-place prize.

In an All-Brazil match, top-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar face third-seeded Monica Rodrigues and Adriana Samuel in the other semi-final.

Brazilians Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva, who defeated Rodrigues and Samuel to win the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, withdrew from the event earlier this week due to injuries. Pires and Silva won FIVB Australian stop in March.

Arce and McPeak, who won the Italy event last month along with seven titles on the domestic Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour this season, defeated WPVA rivals Krista Blomquist and Barbra Fontana 15-7 and Rodrigues and Samuel 15-13 Saturday to advance to the final four.

Three other WPVA were eliminated Saturday in the seventh FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event this season, including fourth-seeded Karolyn Kirby (Brookline, Mass.) and Nancy Reno (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), seventh-seeded Blomquist (Branford, Conn.) and Fontana (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and 14th-seeded Danalee Bragado (Honolulu, Hi.) and Marla O'Hara (Agoura Hills, Calif.).

Bragado and O'Hara, the 10th-ranked team on the Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, dropped a 17-15 decision to 11th-seeded Kristine Drakich and Guylaine Dumont of Canada to finish 13th in the competition to split $2,200.

Kirby and Reno, who captured last weekend's (August 8-10) Evian National Championships in Hermosa Beach, Calif., finished ninth in the international event to split $2,800 after losing 15-13 to Cook and Pottharst and 15-7 to ninth-seeded Magda Lima and Siomara Souza of Brazil. Cook and Pottharst won the bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

After losing to Arce and McPeak, Blomquist and Fontana dropped a 15-3 decision to Eva Celbova and Sona Dosoudilova of the Czech Republic. Playing in their first pro beach volleyball event together, Blomquist and Fontana also finished ninth to share $2,800.

The top-ranked team on the Evian Tour, Arce and McPeak are trying to rebound this weekend after finishing a disappointing fifth in the Evian National Championships. It was only the second-time in their 25 pro starts together that the pair had placed out of the top four finishers in a event.

Winners $326,550 in their 25 pro beach volleyball events together, Arce and McPeak will be seeking their 14th career title together. The pair has combined to win 11 Evian Tour titles along with two international crowns Arce and McPeak have 133-21 (86.4 percent) match mark together.