Defending champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh made top eight on Friday, beating a Belgian pair 2-0 at the Beijing Olympic Games beach volleyball tournament.

The defending champions of the United States, winning 24-22 and 21-10, survived a scare in first set as Belgian duo Liesbet Van Breedam and Liesbeth Mouha led to reach match point 20-17.

Then the two sides exchanged led as the scoreboard changed to 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22, before the Americans ended the first set 24-22 in their favor.

In all their three preliminary matches, neither opponents reached 16 points in any set against the Americans.

In the second set, the American duo, who never lost a game since last August, were back on their normal track, ending the set 21-10.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)