Background and career
Misty Elizabeth May-Treanor (; née May; born July 30, 1977) is an American retired professional beach volleyball player. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and the second most successful female beach volleyball player as of January 2026, having won 112 tournaments in domestic and international competition. May-Treanor and teammate Kerri Walsh Jennings were gold medalists in beach volleyball at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. They also won the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in 2003, 2005 and 2007. The pair set various records throughout their partnership, including a win streak of 112 consecutive matches (19 consecutive tournament titles) in 2007–2008, breaking their own previous record of 89 consecutive match wins. They have been called "the greatest beach volleyball team of all time." May-Treanor retired from competitive play on August 8, 2012, after she and Walsh Jennings won gold in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016.
May was born in 1977 in Los Angeles to Barbara (née Grubb), a nationally ranked tennis player, and Butch May, a member of the 1968 United States men's national volleyball team. She has two older half brothers, Brack and Scott. She grew up playing beach volleyball with her parents at the Santa Monica Pier, and at age 8 teamed with her father to play in her first beach volleyball tournament. May also played soccer and tennis, as well as participating in dance. She attended primary school at Brightwood Elementary School in Monterey Park and Roosevelt Elementary School in Santa Monica. As a child, she was baby-sat by Karch Kiraly, future national volleyball player and United States women's national volleyball team head coach. In her 2010 autobiography, May-Treanor stated both of her parents were alcoholics. She also asserted her mother would at times become violent when drinking. From the age of 4 to 15, she lived with her grandparents. In 1988, her father committed to living his life sober after an automobile accident in which he struck and nearly killed a motorcyclist.
May grew up in Costa Mesa, California, attending Newport Harbor High School from 1991 through 1995. She helped her team win the state championship in volleyball in both her sophomore and senior years, 1992 and 1994. During her junior year in 1993 she was named the Division I All-CIF team Player of the Year, and the following year she was selected by USA Today as the best high school girls' volleyball player in the nation. While at Newport Harbor High she also competed in track and field, excelling in the high jump. At the CIF California State Meet in 1993 she finished second in the high jump to future heptathlete, Tracye Lawyer. May-Treanor was later inducted into the inaugural class of the Newport Harbor High School's Hall of Fame in 2014.
May-Treanor played volleyball for the Long Beach State 49ers from 1995 to 1999. The 1998 team that May captained was the first women's NCAA volleyball team to have an undefeated season. She graduated with a BA in kinesiology and fitness in 2002 and was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. During her tenure there, she racked up numerous Big West Conference and NCAA awards and honors, including the Honda Sports Award for the nation's best female volleyball player, and the Honda-Broderick Cup for the best overall female collegiate athlete for 1998–99, and back-to-back National Player of the Year awards in 1997 and 1998.
As the starting setter in 1998, May-Treanor led Long Beach State University to the Division I NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship with a 36–0 record. She shared the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player award after setting a tournament record with 20 service aces.
She attended Concordia University in Irvine, California to earn a master's degree in coaching and athletic administration. Her degree was conferred on May 4, 2013.
