No certainty for May-Treanor

There will be plenty of time for laughter today when Misty May-Treanor is featured in a TV show with Shaquille O’Neal. But as for what the future has in store for May-Treanor, well that’s not so comical.

There’s nothing for certain, the former Newport Harbor High standout is well aware of that. What’s ahead? Who knows. She’s just enjoying the present. So that means tonight she plans to sit on the couch and watch herself team up with Kerri Walsh, playing in the “Shaq Vs.” show (9 p.m., ABC), that has O’Neal competing against star athletes in other sports than basketball.

They filmed the episode earlier this month at Hermosa Beach.

But could that be the last time the team plays together? Maybe.

“We’ll see,” May-Treanor said of the possibility of playing with Walsh again. “That’s not definite. I don’t know when I’ll be playing again. Who knows what will be going on at that time.

“Would we like to? Yes. But I don’t know what will happen. I’ve just been enjoying the time off.”

May-Treanor and Walsh have not played together, competitively, since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where the duo won gold for the second time and firmly became known as the greatest beach volleyball team of all time. How so? After their gold-medal run in China, the terrific tandem extended their international winning streak to 69 matches and 10 event titles. They dominated, reaching 112 straight wins in international and domestic events.

But in October, May-Treanor’s left Achilles ruptured while practicing steps on “Dancing With the Stars.”

May-Treanor is still rehabilitating, but getting closer to returning. She said she is done with therapy and is working her way back to gaining full strength in her left leg. She is in the 10th month since having the surgery that required an 8-12-month recovery/rehab. She said she also tore her calf back in October and had to learn how to walk all over again.

“I’m a professional practice dummy; when people need the practice, people call me to play them,” May-Treanor said. “I can get out there. Do I have the same jump and running style as in the Olympics? No. Will it be there again? Yes.”

Meanwhile, Walsh, who gave birth to her first child in May, has returned to the Assn of Volleyball Professionals Tour and is playing with Rachel Wacholder.

Earlier this month, May-Treanor watched Walsh and Wacholder compete in the Hermosa Beach Open and said it didn’t bother her that Walsh was playing with someone else. There was support instead generated from May-Treanor and she wished the best for Walsh.

Other than the visit at Hermosa Beach, May-Treanor mostly follows her friends on the AVP Tour via the Internet. After recently wrapping up therapy in Southern California, she left to stay with her father, Robert “Butch,” in Tampa, Fla. As she trains there, she also helps her father coach, working clinics for younger players.

“I’ve been having a blast working with younger kids,” said May-Treanor, the 2008 USA Volleyball Female Beach Volleyball Player of the Year.

She doesn’t have a set date to return in mind. She’ll most likely wait until October to decide that.

Until then she plans to spend more time with her husband Matt Treanor. He’s a backup catcher for the Detroit Tigers. She said she has been enjoying the time with him since he also has been working his way back to competition. He has been out most of the season after having hip surgery.

While May-Treanor is not so sure about the future, Walsh is hopeful.

“I hope to God she comes back and we’ll play together,” Walsh told USA Today earlier this month. “Whatever her choice is, I respect it and support it.”

Until the choice comes, May-Treanor plans to make the most of her free time. She said she might even take in some Newport Harbor girls’ volleyball matches this fall.

“I’m just enjoying my time off,” she said.