For the first time in history, American women will bring home a beach volleyball medal – perhaps even two. Two U.S. teams remain among the final four, and the most fiercely contested match of the Olympics may well be today’s semifinal pitting world champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May against Holly Mc-Peak and Elaine Youngs.

May and Walsh come in as the favorites, having won 16 of 19 matches against McPeak and Youngs. Two of their losses came in 2002, and a third was by forfeit in July 2004 as May struggled with an abdominal strain.

The abdominal injury kept May out of several pre-Olympic tournaments while Walsh competed with other partners to stay sharp. There was speculation that May would not recover in time for Athens, but she and Walsh appear to have regained the dominant form that allowed them to reel off a 90-match winning streak between July 5, 2003 and June 6, 2004.

“I feel good now, especially since we’re only playing one match a day,” May said yesterday, referring to the difference between the Olympic tournament and the more grueling professional circuit.

It also helps that they have breezed by the competition. May, 27, and Walsh, 26, are not only undefeated in Athens, but have not given up a set in five matches. In yesterday’s quarterfinal, they ousted no. 16 Guylaine Dumont and Annie Martin of Canada 21-19, 21-14.

So why are they so dominant? May and Walsh may well be the most versatile team ever to play the game.

“Each of them can do everything very well, from setting to hitting to blocking,” said Barbra Fontana, who placed fourth in the 1996 Olympics and has played with three of the four American women involved in today’s semifinal. “Originally, Kerri was more of a blocker and big hitter because she’s 6-foot-2, but as her game has developed, she has become a fantastic defensive player. And Misty is an all-around package.”

May also happens to be Mc-Peak’s former partner; the two placed fifth at the 2000 Sydney Games. Knowing thy enemy, however, isn’t a significant advantage in beach volleyball since most of the players have been around each other for so long on the pro circuit.

In Athens, McPeak, 35, and Youngs, 34, are also undefeated, but unlike their American rivals, they were tested early in pool play. They dropped a set to Dumont and Martin, and had to rally back from a first-set loss to Switzerland’s Nicole Schnyder and Simone Kuhn in their next match. In yesterday’s semifinal, however, McPeak and Youngs only took two sets to defeat Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau of Germany, 21-17, 21-17.

The key for McPeak and Youngs today may lie in putting the ball over the net on two hits rather than the usual three. The 6-foot tall Youngs is famous for her offensive abilities, but opposing players usually serve to McPeak, thus forcing the weaker offensive player to take the all-important third hit.

“The more [McPeak] hits the ball, the easier it is for other teams to set up for her,” Fontana explains, adding that Youngs has improved her overall abilities this year. “She has been setting fantastically this year.”

Asked to handicap the foursome, Fontana said she expects a “dogfight.”

“Everyone’s fit and ready to go. I don’t expect anyone to fold. I don’t expect anyone to give up. These are two fantastic teams. I think Holly and Elaine are peaking at the right time, but I think Kerri and Misty will win.”

Today’s winner will play for gold tomorrow against either the 2000 Olympic silver medalists Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar of Brazil, or Australia’s 2000 Olympic gold medalist, Natalie Cook, and her new partner, Nicole Sanderson. The losers will vie for the bronze.