MASON, Ohio -- She entered the hospitality tent Friday morning, where hundreds of her peers were waiting. When Misty May-Treanor, fresh off an easy second-round victory against Keao Burdine and Jennifer Snyder, made her appearance, the kids came alive.

Pizza was being served, but lunch could wait.

An Olympian, just like them, had arrived, and soon enough, they crowded around her, asking for autographs, pictures and hugs. Lots of hugs.

Last year, while competing in the AVP Crocs Shootout in Mason, May-Treanor visited with the Special Olympians of Hamilton County. She said there were about 100 kids involved. This year, she entertained about 150 of them. And May-Treanor seemed to love every second of it.

"I'm excited because those kids inspire me," May-Treanor said after her and top-seeded partner Kerry Walsh dispatched No. 8 seed Carrie Dodd and Tatiana Minello 22-20, 23-21 in Friday afternoon's third round.

"They always give it 100 percent when they go on the field or on the track. It's my gift from one Olympian to the next. We're all Olympians, and it's nice to be able to share that with them. It's very special."

The Special Olympians certainly thought so.

As their pizza cooled on paper plates, they surrounded May, imploring her to sign their green Special Olympics T-shirts (many of her signatures originated on the shoulder, for some reason). If she wasn't scribbling her name, she was posing for pictures -- sometimes individually, sometimes in big groups.

As she moved from table to table, she shimmied her way to the next location, bumping behinds with one lucky dance partner, making goofball faces at the disposable cameras that barricaded her way and stopping every few feet to give hugs. May-Treanor apparently likes hugs.

"I do," She confirmed. "A lot of the faces I recognize, and it's so fun to see them grow every time I see them. They remember me. They came out here last year, and with the schedule, our games were running behind so they couldn't see me play. It was nice they were cheering for us today. When I see them having a great time, that's what I want -- to be able to share it with them. I feel like volleyball has given me that platform. I'm very thankful for getting the opportunities that I have."

The kids seemed appreciative as well. They approached her with pizza on their breath and sparkles in their eyes. Some bore presents of their own for May, and she walked out of the tent with a Special Olympics gold medal around her neck.

Of course, they enjoyed touching May's Beijing gold medal as well, an activity May encouraged.

Once, as she posed for a picture with a big group of children and volunteers, she noticed 15-year-old Sharante Brown with his hands in his lap. Immediately, she grabbed one of his hands and attached it to the gold medal as the cameras flashed.

A pretty neat experience for the Cincinnati native.

"It was cool," Brown said. "Her gold medal is all shiny."

A pretty neat experience for May-Treanor as well.

"They gave me a gold medal, and they were sharing their stories with me," she said later while signing more autographs and posing for more pictures for Friday's patrons. "One of the girls was so excited that she won a gold in sprinting.

"It's just being able to have the opportunity to talk in front of people. If it wasn't for volleyball, we wouldn't be invited to be the keynote speakers so we could share our experiences. We have a lot of information to share. I don't want to say they put us on a pedestal, but we have a lot of things in common with everyday people. We're no different. It's nice to be able to interact."