The New York Nitro consolidated their lead within the AVP League standings, successful 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 couple of days after Hurricane Milton had rumbled throughout the hard-hit Sunshine State, attendance was extra sparse on the outside Delray Seashore Tennis Heart 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 reside on CBS Sports activities Community, bought a little bit of rain.
The Nitro locked in a playoff spot in working 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, successful 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 a terrific group, and we now have plenty of respect for them,” Klineman stated. “We all know to beat a terrific group, we now have to play nice. We began off somewhat tense and our coach within the field reminded us to play free. (The match) bought again to somewhat bit extra of our enjoying fashion, and that’s once we began to show it round somewhat 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 overwhelmed Ross and Klineman 15-13, 15-10 on Saturday. Hughes had an enormous 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 stated. “Within the second we served more durable and that was the large 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 all the things 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 want.”
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 Yr in 2023 and ‘24, Kraft (4 aces total) was notably efficient on the over-on-two possibility 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 group is de facto 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 successful their two matches, each in tiebreakers after dropping first units.
The favored Taylors bought 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 huge for an error, Crabb adopted with an ace on a float serve that break 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.
“Enjoying Trevor and Theo is at all times a battle. Trevor and I do know one another so properly that it’s a chess match,” stated 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 changed into 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 total hit 13-for-22 with three errors (.455) and made 13 digs.
“I used to be simply out on a rollercoaster driving it,” Sander stated of his spate of blocks. “I didn’t play my finest, however I discovered one thing that labored for me. Whenever you’re not doing one thing nice, you can also make up for it in different areas. Taylor and I have 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 associate 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 stated. Even that was laborious – to pop the ball in was laborious.”
Cook dinner and Caldwell broke even on the weekend by successful 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 have been determined by two factors and two went into additional time (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 some extent that knotted the depend at 14. Caldwell bought 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 have 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 Subject, 1-3; Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles, 2-2)..
Sunday
Blaze vs. Mayhem and Dream vs. Launch.
The outcomes from every match within the sequence 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 group successful share.
