MASON, Ohio -- Losing by four points in the third game -- and with Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh needing only two more to wrap up their 20th-straight tournament title -- Elaine Youngs looked at her teammate, Nicole Branagh, and said something prophetic.

"I," Youngs said, "told Nicole at 13-9, 'OK, let's make a miracle happen.'"

Sometimes, in order to beat the top-seeded squad and two-time Olympic gold medallists, that's exactly what you need.

The subsequent upset shocker Youngs and Branagh pulled off against May-Treanor and Walsh, 21-19, 10-21, 25-23 on Sunday afternoon at the AVP Crocs Cup Shootout in Mason may not be considered a miracle by everybody. But in snapping the 112-match winning streak of May-Treanor and Walsh, there's little question it was a nice comeback indeed.

And for a player in Youngs who said Saturday night that she hungered for her own gold medal game against May-Treanor and Walsh -- meaning the finals here -- the result Sunday was awfully sweet.

"This is not the Olympics, but we wanted to prove something," Youngs said. "We've played these guys tough in every match this year, and we ended up losing every single time. We just wanted to win. We wanted to prove to everyone out there that we're pretty good."

Youngs proved it here in 2005 when she and Rachel Wacholder stopped May-Treanor and Walsh's 50-match winning streak in winning the tournament finals.

But it wasn't easy for Youngs and Branagh -- seeded third -- on Sunday. It never is.

"We were focusing on one point at a time, and also to keep our errors down," Branagh said. "That really helped us at the end our match. When it's that close sometimes, you can be like, 'OK, just keep it in.' But Elaine and I are not like that."

Tied at 19-19 in the first game, Branagh spanked two tough serves to give her team the advantage, but in the second game, May-Treanor and Walsh dominated.

"We had chances in the first one too," Walsh said. "They served the hell out of the ball. It's going to happen. We're better than we played today. I blocked well in the second game but not in the first or third games."

Still, May-Treanor and Walsh had that 13-9 lead in the third, but Youngs and Branagh reeled off four-straight points to tie the game. They went back and forth, as the gold medallists and their opponents each saved five championship points. But at 23-23, Youngs made a key block to take the lead and then she placed a serve May-Treanor couldn't handle.

Thing is, after May-Treanor's touch -- it actually deflected the ball backward where Walsh had no chance to reach it -- the ball hit a TV camera, leading the officials to call for a replay of the point.

"I have seen every scenario against that team," Young said. "It's another one of those, where in the past, we would have said, 'Oh my God, we're getting screwed.' This time, we just said, 'Let's do it again.' We did that. It's very satisfying."

Especially after a fifth-place finish in Beijing that Youngs described as disappointing. So, while May-Treanor has talked this weekend about how exhausted she and Walsh are -- "I can't even tell you what day it is," May-Treanor said after the finals -- Youngs had extra motivation coming into Sunday's contest.

"It happens," May-Treanor said. "You win some, you lose some. They played great. We had our opportunities; we just couldn't shut the door. With that team, you really have to concentrate and finish them off when you can."

May-Treanor has other subjects on her mind anyway. Like rehearsing for her "Dancing with the Stars" appearance in between her matches this weekend and trying to get her body clock rewound from Beijing.

Walsh, though, said the team never found its rhythm this weekend -- on Saturday, she described it as "swimming in mud" -- and for that, she wasn't happy. "If you give them too many chances, they're going to beat you," Walsh said. "We haven't practiced in I don't know how long. Our schedule has been a pain. We need to make this a priority."