Two teams from California will play for the gold medal Wednesday at London sand in an all-U.S.A. all-Golden State Olympic final in women's beach volleyball.
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings -- the Olympics' most dominant duo -- advanced to the final Tuesday with a 2-0 win over China at Horse Guards Parade. The U.S. team defeated China, 22-20, 22-20.
Later Tuesday, Southern California's Jen Kessy and April Ross upset Brazil's Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca, 2-1. Kessy and Ross lost the first set, but rebounded to win the next two to qualify for Wednesday's final.
May-Treanor, of Long Beach, and Walsh Jennings, of Saratoga, are making a run for their third consecutive gold medal. They remain undefeated in Olympic play and had never lost an Olympic set before last week in their 2-1 pool play win over Austria.
They fell behind 13-8 in the first set against China, but rallied to close out the set when Xue hit the ball into the net. The two sides battled throughout the second set, and China saved one set point before May-Treanor's bump to the backline set up another match point.
Walsh Jennings' block ended the match.
"We just defeated the best team in the world for the past year,'' Walsh Jennings said over the stadium public address system after the win. "We know we have this in us, we've just got to go execute.''
London is expected to be the last Olympics together for the Americans. After the match, an exuberant May-Treanor circled the stadium, delivering high-fives and hugs to fans.
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As for Kessy, of San Clemente and Ross, of Newport Beach, the first-time Olympians faced a favored Brazilian side that finished atop Group A without losing a set. Kessy and Ross went 3-0 to finish first in Group D, dropping sets to teams from the Netherlands and Spain.
They won Tuesday's match, 15-21, 21-19, 15-12.
