The New York Nitro consolidated their lead within the AVP League standings, profitable three of 4 matches over the weekend in damp South Florida.
The Nitro’s hiccup occurred on Sunday afternoon when Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes got here out uncharacteristically flat in opposition to up-and-comers Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon of the struggling Brooklyn Blaze and by no means gained traction whereas dropping their first League match.
A number of days after Hurricane Milton had rumbled throughout the hard-hit Sunshine State, attendance was extra sparse on the outside Delray Seashore Tennis Middle than had been the case within the League’s final two stops indoors in San Diego and Austin, Texas. Followers and gamers needed to climate persistent drizzle and intermittent heavier rainfall on Saturday evening and the second recreation on Sunday afternoon, nationally televised dwell on CBS Sports activities Community, obtained a little bit of rain.
The Nitro locked in a playoff spot in operating their document to 10-2 and maintain a one-game lead within the loss column over the Austin Aces and Dallas Dream (each 5-3). They take pleasure in a three-game benefit over the 7-5 Miami Mayhem, who went 2-2 in Delray Seashore, dropping each matches in opposition to the Nitro.
The opposite 4 League groups are beneath .500. The playoff hopes of the Blaze and Palm Seashore Ardour (each 4-8) took hits this weekend. The Mayhem’s April Ross and Alix Klineman, the 2021 Olympic gold-medal pair in Tokyo, dealt a very damaging defeat to Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of the Ardour, taking down the reigning Olympic silver medalists from Canada for the second time in League play.
After dropping the opening set 15-13, Ross and Klineman discovered one other gear within the second and third, profitable 15-11 and 15-9. The veterans mixed for 11 kills on 13 assaults with one error (.769 effectivity) and every served aces within the tiebreaker. Wilkerson was held to .133 hitting (5 kills on 15 makes an attempt in opposition to three errors) within the match.
“(Mel and Brandie) are an incredible workforce, and we now have loads of respect for them,” Klineman mentioned. “We all know to beat an incredible workforce, we now have to play nice. We began off a bit of tense and our coach within the field reminded us to play free. (The match) obtained again to a bit of bit extra of our taking part in type, and that’s once we began to show it round a bit of bit.”
The Canadians (3-3 within the League) had fired on all cylinders on Saturday evening, placing a 15-9, 15-10 beatdown on Kraft and Cannon. Brandie went 9-for-11 with one error (.727) and made 4 blocks.
USA Olympians Cheng and Hughes had crushed Ross and Klineman 15-13, 15-10 on Saturday. Hughes had a large match, ringing up 9 kills on 11 errorless swings (.818) and digging 9 balls.
“The primary set was very a lot backwards and forwards after which Sara made one or two digs on the finish and the sport was over,” Cheng mentioned. “Within the second we served more durable and that was the massive issue.”
The dominance by Cheng and Hughes (5-1 within the League) the evening earlier than may need set them up for a letdown in opposition to Kraft and Cannon, who did every little thing proper in a 15-12, 15-9 victory that lifted the Blaze pair’s document to 2-4.
Jordan Cheng, the coach for Cheng and Hughes and Kelly’s husband, appeared perplexed by their efficiency throughout an in-match sideline interview, saying, “We’re not fairly getting the response we’d like.”
The wheels fell off at 10-9 of the second set for the reigning world champions. They scored no extra factors, whereas Kraft served two winners, together with a “tape snake” that trickled over the web on match level. The NCAA Participant of the 12 months in 2023 and ‘24, Kraft (4 aces general) was notably efficient on the over-on-two choice whereas amassing 10 kills on 15 makes an attempt with three errors (.467).
“We simply tried to be as aggressive as potential, as a result of that workforce is basically good,” was Kraft’s succinct summation.
The Nitro’s males’s pair of Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander (5-1 within the League) mitigated the harm by profitable their two matches, each in tiebreakers after dropping first units.
The favored Taylors obtained the higher of the Mayhem’s Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner (4-2) on Saturday evening in one other extremely entertaining “Crabb boil.” They flipped the script after a lopsided opening set to prevail 8-15, 15-12, 15-11. The second set hinged on a three-point burst that gave the Nitro duo a 12-9 benefit. The youthful Crabb brother scored on a tough chop to the sand in transition, Brunner despatched a crosscourt shot broad for an error, Crabb adopted with an ace on a float serve that cut up the center.
Separation for the Taylors got here earlier within the third set. A hitting error by Trevor, a stuff block by Theo on the older Crabb sibling, and a highlight-reel play by Sander through which he made an open-hand overhead dig in opposition to Trevor and chopped down a crosscourt kill put them up 8-4. Sander hit the highlight once more with a one-armed cowl of a block try, scoring in transition, for a 14-10 lead.
“Taking part in Trevor and Theo is all the time a battle. Trevor and I do know one another so nicely that it’s a chess match,” mentioned Taylor Crabb, who notched 18 kills on 31 makes an attempt with 4 errors (.452) and made six digs.
The Taylors’ “W” on Sunday afternoon in opposition to Cody Caldwell and Seain Cook dinner (2-4) of the Blaze was a dogfight for 2 units however the high-jumping Sander become a one-man wall within the tiebreaker. The ultimate depend was 13-15, 15-13, 15-8, with Sander at one level getting stuff blocks on three of 4 factors after Crabb had deserted an aggressive-serving technique and despatched the ball over with old-school standing float serves.
Sander notched 5 rejections for factors within the third set (with eight blocks in complete) and whereas going 4-for-4 in kills. Crabb general hit 13-for-22 with three errors (.455) and made 13 digs.
“I used to be simply out on a rollercoaster using it,” Sander mentioned of his spate of blocks. “I didn’t play my finest, however I discovered one thing that labored for me. If you’re not doing one thing nice, you can also make up for it in different areas. Taylor and I had been simply laughing at ourselves on the market, as a result of we’re higher volleyball gamers than that. But it surely’s necessary that you simply simply grind the wins out and we’re scrappers.”
Crabb lauded his accomplice for dominating late, whereas additionally acknowledging that the pair struggled.
“Within the third set, I simply needed to pop the ball in and he blocked each ball,” he mentioned. Even that was onerous – to pop the ball in was onerous.”
Cook dinner and Caldwell broke even on the weekend by profitable a nail-biter on Saturday evening over the Ardour’s hard-luck duo of Phil Dalhausser and Avery Drost (1-5). All three units within the 60-minute tussle had been determined by two factors and two went into time beyond regulation (18-15, 13-15, 16-14). A few “one-armed-bandits” digs figured closely within the tiebreaker. Drost’s stab went over the web on one for a degree that knotted the depend at 14. Caldwell obtained a flipper on a scorching spike by Avery and put the ball away with a nifty drop shot on match level.
Trevor Crabb and Brunner then topped Dalhausser and Drost 15-13, 15-11 on Sunday.
The Mayhem and Blaze full their common seasons throughout Week 6, becoming a member of the Dream and Launch, each of whom had been idle. The AVP League returns to an indoor venue in Southern California, with doubleheaders scheduled on Oct. 19 and 20 on the new 7,500-set Frontwave Enviornment in Oceanside.
Listed here are the lineups for the sixth of eight regular-season AVP League weekends:
Saturday
Brooklyn Blaze (4-8; Cody Caldwell and Seain Cook dinner, 2-4; Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon, 2-4) vs. Dallas Dream (5-3; Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, 4-0; Hailey Harward and Kylie Deberg, 1-3) .
Miami Mayhem (7-5; Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, 4-2; April Ross and Alix Klineman, 3-3) vs. LA Launch (3-5; Tim Bomgren and Troy Area, 1-3; Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles, 2-2)..
Sunday
Blaze vs. Mayhem and Dream vs. Launch.
The outcomes from every match within the collection will go towards figuring out the 4 qualifiers for the bracket-style championship rounds on Nov. 9 and 10 on the Dignity Well being Sports activities Park in Carson, California. The primary criterion for advancing to the playoffs is workforce profitable share.
