Athens, Greece (My Sportsbook) - For the first time ever, the United States will win a women's beach volleyball medal -- this after the teams of Kerri Walsh/Misty May and Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs advanced to face each other in the Olympic semifinals.

But it's a different story on the men's side. For the first time since beach volleyball was introduced to the Games in 1996, the American men will not win gold.

That's because Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger were eliminated from Olympic medal contention by a straight-set loss Sunday, ending the United States' chances of claiming a third straight Olympic title.

Holdren and Metzger fell in straight sets to Switzerland's Patric Heuscher and Stefan Kobel, 21-16 and 21-19, in a blistering 100-degree heat at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre.

"The heat made a big difference today," Metzger said. "We are a team that thrives on energy, pumping each other up, making a lot of noise. But it was hard to get a word out today."

The stands were nearly full at the 10,000-capacity stadium to see Kobel's wipeoff on Holdren for the final point. With the win, the Swiss advanced to the semifinals and avenged a loss to Holdren and Metzger in the quarters of last year's world championships.

Holdren and Metzger were the sole remaining men's team with the burden of keeping the gold medal in American hands. The other American men's team of Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard were eliminated in pool play. Blanton was a defending gold medalist.

But the women are alive and well. McPeak and Youngs were the first to win their semifinals match, posting a 21-17 and 21-17 victory over Germany's Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau to remain undefeated in five games so far.

With the victory, they became the first U.S. women's team to make the final four in Olympic competition since Barbara Fontana and Linda Hanley played in the bronze medal match at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

"We have been looking forward to this for a long time," Youngs said.

May and Walsh followed with an even more lopsided 21-19 and 21-14 win over Canadians Guylaine Dumont and Annie Martin in a match that took just 37 minutes. The top-seeded Americans are reigning world champions.

"I am glad for our country that we have two teams capable of winning a medal," Walsh said, "but I am more excited that Misty and I have come through the competition in good shape against the world's best players. It should be a good match and the team with the fewest mistakes will play for the gold medal."

When the two U.S. teams play Monday, it will be their 20th all-time meeting.