PUSAN, KOREA - Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak of the Women's Professional Volleyball Association captured their second FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event of 1997 here Sunday (August 17) on Haewoondae Beach.

The FIVB championship eliminated the "disappointment" of last weekend when Arce and McPeak finished fifth in the Evian National Championships at Hermosa Beach, Calif.

With the win, Arce and McPeak successfully defended their FIVB Korea title as the pair has now won 14 pro beach volleyball titles together in 25 starts. Arce and McPeak shared the $25,000 first- place prize.

Seeded second in the competition, Arce (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and McPeak (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) won two of three sets (12-4, 11-12 and 12-7) in defeating Monica Rodrigues and Adriana Samuel of Brazil.

The silver medalists at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Rodrigues and Samuel advanced to the title match with a 15-9 win over top- seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar of Brazil.

Rodrigues and Samuel, who had won the last two FIVB in Portugal and Japan along with the season opener in Brazil, split $16,000 for second-place.

Arce and McPeak, who had missed the Portugal and Japan events due to their participation in Evian Tour events in East Quogue, N. Y. (August 2-3) and Hermosa Beach (August 8-10), were playing in their third international final this season.

After losing 5-12, 12-4 and 7-12 to Rodrigues and Samuel in February's Rio de Janeiro, Brazil event, Arce and McPeak defeated Bede and Behar 12-10 and 12-4 to win last month's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship event in Pescara, Italy (July 6).

Arce and McPeak, who have won seven of 11 Evian Tour stops this season, advanced to the championship match with a 15-6 win over fifth-seeded Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia, the bronze medalists at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

The top-ranked team on the Evian Tour, Arce and McPeak have now teamed to win $93,000 on the international tour this season enroute to a 30-7 match record. The pair has also posted a second-place finish in France and a third in Australia is season. Arce and McPeak have now posted a 136-22 (86.1 percent) career match mark together to share $343,550 in pro beach volleyball earnings.

The title was the 48th of McPeak's pro beach volleyball career, including nine FIVB crowns. Arce, who played with McPeak at both Mira Costa High School (Manhattan Beach) and Cal-Berkeley, captured here 14th pro title with three international championships.

Cook and Pottharst finished third due to a forfeit win over Bede and Behar, who defeated Arce and McPeak 25-23 and 21-15 to win the France title last month. Cook and Pottharst split $11,000 while Bede and Behar shared $8,000.

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.

Three other WPVA were eliminated Saturday in the seventh FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event this season. Fourth-seeded Karolyn Kirby (Brookline, Mass.) and Nancy Reno (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) and seventh-seeded Krista Blomquist (Branford, Conn.) and Barbra Fontana (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) tied for ninth ($1,400 each). Danalee Bragado (Honolulu, Hi.) and Marla O'Hara (Agoura Hills, Calif.), the 14th-seeded team, tied for 13th (split $2,200).