AVP Palm Beach 2025: Men's Tournament
Dear Readers~
Welcome back as I cover the men's side of the 2025 AVP Palm Beach league event that took place in Palm Beach, Florida on May 23rd and May 24th at the Delray Beach Tennis Center. Just like all of the league events this AVP season, this tournament only lasted two days and had no technical semifinals or finals so all of the men's results will be here.
Let's explain a little about how this season works, with it being so new I'm still learning so I'll do my best to explain what I know as of the writing of this. The way the league works is that there are 8 teams total. There are 4 teams at each city the AVP stops at and the teams change cities so each city doesn't have the same four teams playing each time. This one in Palm Beach has the Dallas Dream, San Diego Smash, Brooklyn Blaze, and Palm Beach Passion while the next city, San Diego, will have the a few of these teams mixed with a few new ones. Today's games will focus on the Palm Beach Passion (since it's in Palm Beach) and also the Dallas Dream.
With the league still being fairly new, I'm learning a little more each city they stop at but one thing that remains the same is how the game works on the sand. If you've read my coverage of the tournament in Huntington Beach, California or NCAA beach volleyball, you may already understand but for those who don't, let me explain. For the AVP, a game lasts either two sets to 21 each (if the same team wins both of those) or two sets to 21 each followed by a third set to 15 (if each team wins one of the first two sets). After winning either both sets or two of the three sets, you've won your game. Unlike previous years, the league doesn't have a bracket to work your way through to see who wins the tournament, instead you play two games with one on day one and one on day two along with the first two sets playing to 15 (like the third set normally does) instead of playing to 21. With each city represented playing two games for each gender, they only play twice at each city they play in instead of 2, 3, 4, or even 9 games in a weekend for each duo (pair or partners depending on what you want to call them). Cities like Huntington Beach in May and Manhattan Beach in August will still go by the usual first to 21 in the fist and second sets unlike the first to 15 for the league.
Let's start off with the Palm Beach Passion to see who plays for that team. They are made up of Phil Dalhausser and Trevor Crabb. Their first game was against the Brooklyn Blaze, which consists of Sean Cook and Brian Miller. The first set ended 16-14 (don't forget about that two point rule needed to win a set) while the second set ended at 15-8, both in favor of Crabb and Dalhausser. Their second game was against the Dallas Dream, which consisted of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh. Both sets ended at 15-10 and both in favor of Benesh and Partain. This was also the last match of the tournament, meaning Dalhausser and Crabb ended the weekend at 1-1.
Next, we will cover the Dallas Dream of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, a duo that received a 5th place tie in Paris in 2024. As mentioned, they beat Dalhausser and Crabb in straight sets to end the weekend but who did they play their first match against? That was against the San Diego Smash, which consisted of fellow 2024 Paris Olympians (who got a 9th place tie), Miles Evans and Chase Budinger (Budinger is a former NBA player for the Phoenix Suns if that name sounds familiar) to start off the tournament actually. The first set ended 19-17 while the second set ended 15-8, both in favor of Benesh and Partain, giving them a 2-0 record for the stop in Palm Beach.
This concludes the first stop of the AVP league in Palm Beach, Florida. Stay tuned for next week as I cover the second stop, San Diego, California, with the women's teams, which include the San Diego Smash. If there's a certain team or sport you'd like covered let me know and until next time, Miller out
~J. Miller
Comments
Post a Comment