LOS ANGELES — The AVP’s 2024 season opened on Saturday, at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on UCLA’s campus, with four matches. This AVP league format is unlike any other beach volleyball competition.
Teams tested new strategies and worked with their teammates to navigate the new landscape. Chemistry is key, as seeding is determined by the overall points that the men’s and women’s contingent from each team earn on a given weekend. It’s three points for a two-set victory, two for a three-set victory, and one for a three-set loss.
On Saturday, The New York Nitro faced the Brooklyn Blaze and the LA Launch faced the San Diego Smash.
The New York Nitro emerged with a maximum of six seed points. The Brooklyn Blaze did not earn any seed points.
The LA Launch and the San Diego Smash each earned three seed points
New York Nitro vs. Brooklyn Blaze (women’s match)
Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes have been working on preventing opponents from constructing long runs. But sometimes, they said, they simply can’t control it.
That was certainly true as Brooklyn Blaze’s Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon erased the Nitro’s 11-6 lead in the second set, scoring six consecutive points, two of which came on aces that caught the top of the net and dropped in front of Hughes’ feet.
“It was a reset moment for us,” Cheng said.
Trailing 12-11, the pair took a timeout, settled down and broke the Blaze’s momentum with a kill from Cheng that tied the score at 12.
At that point, the Nitro had security because they had won the first set, but in the AVP league, not all wins are created equal. The Nitro were looking to earn the maximum amount of points with a straight set victory.
They were able to do that, reclaiming the momentum and winning the second set 16-14. With the (15-13, 16-14) win, the Nitro’s women earned three seed points for their team.
New York Nitro vs. Brooklyn Blaze (men’s match)
An audible cheer echoed off the sand as Taylor Sander passed the ball to Taylor Crabb. Sander was confident his teammate would provide a match-winning kill.
“That’s one of the routes we like to run,” Crabb said, “instead of just letting the defense set up one way.”
Crabb’s kill gave the New York Nitro a straight-set victory (15-10, 15-11) over the Brooklyn Blaze. The Blaze, which consists of Seain Cook and Cody Caldwell led the second set briefly, but the Nitro put together a five-point run to take a 9-5 lead. During that stretch, Sander and Crabb each had an impressive block.
Sander and Crabb earned three points for their team with the two-set victory, which means the Nitro begin the AVP league winning the maximum of six seed points.
The Blaze earned zero points on Saturday.
LA Launch vs. San Diego Smash (men’s match)
The Launch and the Smash gave fans the first three-set match of the AVP league season. It didn’t disappoint as the teams were tied 14-14 in the third set, before Chase Budinger and Miles Evans were able to snag the victory for the Smash, relying on their experience to carry them through the final points.
“Chase and I are very experienced,” Evans said. “We’ve been here enough.”
Evans, however, admitted he felt more pressure on Saturday than he expected. He closed out that noise on the final point, producing an ace on a strong serve to the back of the sand. Troy Field and Tim Bomgren, who represent the Launch, had no chance to match the speed of Evans’ serve.
Serving — switching between speed, power and placement based on the “feel of the game” — is something the pair, who finished in the Round of 16 at the Paris Olympics, has been practicing. They also used that Olympic competition to increase the options in their system.
The Launch challenged the Smash, winning the first set. In the final frame, though, they committed four errors, allowing the Smash to control the set.
The Smash earned two seed points with their three-set victory.
LA Launch vs. San Diego Smash (women’s match)
The final point of the night had an argument for the most exciting. In the midst of a rally, Betsi Flint’s attack gave the Smash trouble, but Geena Urango dove to make the recovery. On the ground with her back facing the net, she hit the ball back to Flint. Flint, though, calmly passed it to her partner, Julia Scoles, whose kill ended the match.
“I thought we did a good job of staying calm and collected in pressure situations,” Scoles said. “That ultimately led to the W.”
After dropping the first set 15-9 and trailing the second 9-8, Scoles and Flint fought back to beat the Smash.
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The final point may have caught the most attention, but the second set, in its entirety, was just as captivating. The Smash and Launch traded points throughout. Scoles produced consecutive kills to give the Launch a 12-11 advantage. The Smash retook the lead with Toni Rodriguez’s ace, but the Launch fought back and sent it to overtime. Ultimately, Flint’s ace closed the set, 19-17.
The resilience from the Launch’s women helped the team earn a total of three seed points, on Saturday.