AVP League: Pivotal week 5 as Nitro, Mayhem, Passion, Blaze meet in South Florida

The New York Nitro (7-1) and Miami Mayhem (5-3) are well positioned to qualify for the AVP League playoffs. The Palm Beach Passion (3-5) and Brooklyn Blaze (2-6) have catching up to do.

The innovative League series moves into the second half of its regular-season schedule and back outdoors in Week 5, playing in the 8,200-seat Delray Beach Tennis Center in South Florida. Doubleheaders are on the docket for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon and Sunday’s late game between the Mayhem and Passion is scheduled to air live on CBS Sports Network from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.

After building attendance momentum during indoor events in San Diego and Austin, Texas, in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, which swept across the Florida peninsula in mid-week, the AVP anticipates smaller turnouts in Delray Beach, located in southern Palm Beach County on the Atlantic Coast.

The weather picture for Saturday night is encouraging, with little chance of rain. The forecast for Sunday during the day is more problematic, with possible thunderstorms and an 80% threat of rain. The AVP indicated that competition will be held as scheduled and that the tennis stadium was undamaged during the storm.

The games in Week 5 loom as pivotal for all of the teams. Here’s why:

•  With a two-game advantage in the standings, the first-place Nitro appear locked in to one of the four spots in the postseason and another strong effort would enhance their chances of earning the top seed.
•  The Mayhem technically stand second, with tiebreaker points giving them an edge over the Austin Aces and Dallas Dream, also are 5-3, who are idle this week. The difference-maker for the Mayhem figures to be their game on Saturday night against the Nitro. More on that later.
•  Deadlocked in fifth with the idle LA Launch, the “hometown” Passion likely need to go at least 3-1 to have a realistic shot at getting into the playoffs. That doesn’t seem to be a bridge too far, with a game against the Blaze and a rematch from Week 2 with the Mayhem. Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson have split their matches in each of their first two League stops and a 2-0 effort here would hardly be a surprise.
•  The Blaze find themselves in a make-or-break scenario. Another sub-.500 weekend would assure a losing record and for all purposes eliminate the Blaze from postseason contention. They are seventh in the League standings, with a one-point edge in tiebreaker points over the idle San Diego Smash. But Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon provided them with a ray of hope last week when they knocked off USA Olympians Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss of the Dream in straight sets.

The game between the Nitro and the Mayhem not only carries significant implications in the standings, but intriguing matchups as well.

On the men’s side, the charismatic Crabb brothers renew their rivalry, which has gone on through numerous partner changes by both since older sibling Trevor and Taylor split as a pair in 2016. Their wildly entertaining “Crabb boils” typically stoke the competitive juices of both brothers.

Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander of the Nitro have won three of their four matches in the League, falling only to USA OIympians Miles Partain and Andy Benesh (the only undefeated duo on the men’s side) in a sweep. Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner likewise are 3-1, their lone loss coming in a three-setter against Partain-Benesh. These pairs have met one other time in 2024, when Trevor and Theo won in three in the Manhattan Beach Open semifinals on their way to putting their names on the pier. By any metric, the “Crabb boil” on Saturday is a toss-up.

The Nitro’s Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, the reigning World Champions, are the lone 4-0 duo among the eight women’s pairs. The USA Olympians have won every match in straight sets. But their opposition on Saturday, April Ross and Alix Klineman, sport gaudy resumes of their own that include the Olympic gold medal in the 2021 Tokyo Games.

Returning to competitive beach volleyball after extended pregnancy-related absences, the 42-year-old Ross and Klineman, 34, have gone 2-2 in the League. Their most noteworthy victory is significant, however, coming against Canada’s Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson.

Despite the historical success of both pairs worldwide, this marks the first meeting all-time between Cheng-Hughes and Ross-Klineman.

“Oh, wow, for Kelly and I playing as partners, yeah, I guess so,” Hughes told us, delving deep into her memory bank. “We practice against (Ross and Klineman) and we’ve seen them before many times, so I’m looking forward to the chance to compete against them.

“Alix and April are veterans who don’t make a whole lot of errors. They’re very consistent,” added Sara, whose per-set average of 5.0 digs is tops on the women’s side. “We have to be aggressive with our serving and have a good game plan with our block. Alix (at 6-foot-5) is one of the tallest blockers on tour, so we have to make sure we do a good job in moving her block around.”

Their rematch from Week 1 on Sunday against Kraft and Cannon shouldn’t be seen as a “gimme” for Cheng and Hughes. Up-and-comers Megan and Terese pushed Kelly and Sara to 16-14, 15-13 scores in the first meeting and they likely gained a huge confidence boost with the stunning sweep of TKN.

“We’ve played that team a lot,” Hughes noted. “With Terese and Meg, they can come out firing really fast, and are a really good serving team. Again, (the 6-foot-3 Cannon is) another big blocker. The big thing for us against them is sticking to our game plan and trying to (minimize) errors. Tall blocker, tall defender (Kraft stands 6-foot) and both physical. We have to push them pretty hard because we can’t afford any letup against a team like that.”

The Taylors outscored the Blaze’s pair of Cody Caldwell and Seain Cook by a combined 30-21 score in the League’s “speed sets” to 15 in their first meeting.

“We really enjoy being partnered up with the Taylors,” Hughes said. “They’re a pretty calm, chill type of team. We try to fire them up a little. Ultimately, they’re such a dynamic pair and awesome to watch. The chemistry we have between our two teams is really fun.”

Meanwhile, Caldwell and Cook will try to bounce back from a disastrous 0-2 weekend in Austin. Their other match comes on Saturday against the Passion’s Phil Dalhausser and Avery Drost, who also are 1-3 overall after picking up their first victory last week in a tense three-setter (16-14 in the tiebreaker) over the Launch’s Tim Bomgren and Troy Field. That “W” seemed to lift the spirits of Drost, who has been relentlessly targeted by opponents, having taken 106 total swings to Dalhausser’s 36.

Phil and Avery draw a daunting task Sunday on national TV, squaring off against the Mayhem’s Trevor Crabb and Brunner. After meeting Kraft-Cannon on Saturday, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson have a high-profile encounter against Ross and Klineman to open the CBSSN telecast.

On the call in the booth from South Florida will be Camryn Irwin, Rich Lambourne and Casey Patterson. The weekend streaming/TV schedule has the two games on Saturday night and the first game on Sunday streamed live on the free Bally Live app and ballylive.com. Those six matches will be archived on the AVP’s free YouTube channel shortly after completion. The second game on Sunday will be telecast exclusively on the CBS Sports Network cable channel.

Here are the lineups at the Delray Beach Tennis Center for the fifth of eight regular-season AVP League weekends:

Saturday 

New York Nitro (7-1) vs. Miami Mayhem (5-3) 
Women (6 p.m. Eastern): Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes (Nitro, 4-0) vs. April Ross and Alix Klineman (Mayhem, 2-2).
Men (7 p.m.): Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander (Nitro, 3-1) vs. Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner (Mayhem, 3-1).
Brooklyn Blaze (2-6) vs. Palm Beach Passion (3-5)
Women (8 p.m.): Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon (Blaze, 1-3) vs. Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson (Passion, 2-2).
Men (9 p.m.): Cody Caldwell and Seain Cook (Blaze, 1-3) vs. Phil Dalhausser and Avery Drost (Passion, 1-3).

Sunday

New York Nitro vs. Brooklyn Blaze
Women (1 p.m. Eastern): Cheng-Hughes (Nitro) vs. Kraft-Cannon (Blaze).
Men (2 p.m.): Taylor Crabb-Sander (Nitro) vs. Caldwell-Cook (Blaze).
Miami Mayhem vs. Palm Beach Passion
Women (3 p.m.): Ross-Klineman (Mayhem) vs. Humana-Paredes-Wilkerson (Passion).
Men (4 p.m.): Trevor Crabb-Brunner (Mayhem) vs. Dalhausser-Drost (Passion).

The results from each match in the series will count toward determining the four qualifiers for the bracket-style championship rounds on Nov. 9 and 10 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Each team will play four regular-season games. The first criterion for advancing to the playoffs is team winning percentage.

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