Play heats up in fight to stay

By Jane Barrett

BEIJING (Reuters) - The top seeds squeezed into the quarter-finals of the women's Olympic beach volleyball on Friday, but there were some scares on the way as lower ranked teams toughed it out to stay on the sand.

Defending champions and hot favorites Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh faced five set points against a gritty Belgium before they knuckled down and pulled back to win 24-22, 21-10.

"Being pushed to the max helps us. Kerri and I always find ways of coming through it. Don't ask me what though because that would be telling," May-Treanor said afterwards.

The Americans now face Brazil's top team Larissa Franca and Ana Paula Connelly, who have had teething problems gelling as a pair but pulled back from a deficit to beat Germany 2-0.

"We've just be talking constantly, gaining confidence and making the gap between us smaller and smaller," said Ana Paula, wearing a lucky turquoise bikini under her kit that she has worn when winning with her usual partner Shelda Bede.

Brazil's second team Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro had a tougher time of it, dropping behind early before beating Norway 12-21, 21-19, 15-13.

"At the end of the first set we just thought we've worked so hard to get here and now we play like this? We can't let it go like this," said Talita, 25.

Sydney gold medalist Natalie Cook and her new partner Tamsin Barnett were also stretched well beyond anything seen so far by a Greek pair who shot holes in their usually solid blocking and digging. The Australians eventually won 22-20 19-21 15-12.