{"id":396281,"date":"2026-07-13T04:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T04:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/396281\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T04:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T04:15:08","slug":"miami-mayhem-close-perfect-avp-league-weekend-in-long-beach-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/396281\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Mayhem close perfect AVP League weekend in Long Beach \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Mayhem\u2019s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft celebrate their win against Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Mayhem\u2019s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft block at the net against Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Mayhem\u2019s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft celebrated their win against Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Alaina<\/p>\n

Alaina Chacon, with L.A. Launch, digs for the ball against Miami Mayhem\u2019s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Mayhem\u2019s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft celebrate their win against Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Mayhem\u2019s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft celebrate their win against Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Logan<\/p>\n

Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, digs for the ball against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hagen<\/p>\n

Hagen Smith and Logan Webber with the L.A. Launch digs for the ball against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Logan<\/p>\n

Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, blocks against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hagen<\/p>\n

Hagen Smith with the L.A. Launch digs for the ball against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Derek<\/p>\n

Derek Bradford of the Brooklyn Blaze digs for the ball against Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hagen<\/p>\n

Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, celebrate their win against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Logan<\/p>\n

Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, blocks against Derek Bradford of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"L.A.<\/p>\n

L.A. Launch\u2019s Hagen Smith delivers his winning serve against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hagen<\/p>\n

Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, celebrate their win against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Logan<\/p>\n

Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, blocks against Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hagen<\/p>\n

Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, dig for the ball in their win against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Logan<\/p>\n

Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, blocks against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Derek<\/p>\n

Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn Blaze dig for the ball against Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Derek<\/p>\n

Derek Bradford of the Brooklyn Blaze hits the ball against Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Hagen<\/p>\n

Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, with L.A. Launch, win against Derek Bradford and Evan Cory of the Brooklyn blaze during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 21<\/p>\n

Miami Mayhem\u2019s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft celebrate their win against Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon, with L.A. Launch, during the AVP League beach volleyball tournament in Long Beach on Sunday July 12, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

LONG BEACH \u2014 Sunday must have been filled with familiar sights, sounds and feelings for Miles Partain.<\/p>\n

Though not all for the right reasons.<\/p>\n

Andy Benesh, Partain\u2019s partner from 2022 to 2026, walked away victorious, winning back-to-back matches over the weekend, while Partain was left with his hands on his head for the second match in a row.<\/p>\n

Partain and his Dallas Dream partner, Paul Lotman, narrowly lost the first set 23-21, but the second was not as competitive, with Benesh and Taylor Crabb completing the sweep 15-10 for the Miami Mayhem (9-3) at Alamitos Beach to conclude Week 5 of the AVP League.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really good friends,\u201d Benesh said. \u201cIt\u2019s competitive, but like a fun competitive. I thought he played great today. \u2026 I\u2019m just happy me and Taylor were able to pull out the first set, and then ultimately the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add in Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft\u2019s Sunday contribution, a 15-12, 15-10 win over the Brooklyn Blaze (4-8), and the Mayhem went 4-0 over the two days of competition in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

Unlike the men\u2019s tandem, Cheng and Kraft needed all three sets to defeat the LA Launch women\u2019s pair of Alaina Chacon and Maddie Anderson 16-14, 16-18, 15-12.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a newer team, so there was only maybe three matches to watch of them,\u201d Cheng said of the pair of AVP League newcomers. \u201cSo there is a bit of focus on our side of the net because you don\u2019t know too many of their tendencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday afternoon began with overcast skies at Alamitos Beach. By the time the Dallas Dream completed a 15-12, 15-10 women\u2019s win over the Brooklyn Blaze in the second match of the day, it had begun to drizzle.<\/p>\n

But the rain stopped and the clouds parted just before the Launch and Blaze\u2019s men\u2019s match, giving Hagen Smith, the Launch\u2019s only player from Southern California, the appropriate blue sky and sunshine.<\/p>\n

Smith and Partain did not overlap at UCLA, with Smith more than five years older, but both hail from Pacific Palisades.<\/p>\n

Alongside partner Logan Webber, Smith put on a show for his local crowd, defeating the Blaze 13-15, 15-9, 15-13.<\/p>\n

The back-and-forth match included some words, not just points, and those words were exchanged with officials, not just opponents. The Blaze\u2019s Evan Cory earned a yellow card.<\/p>\n

Cory\u2019s partner, Derek Bradford, had a group of friends Saturday who cheered on the Blaze while jeering the team on the opposite side of the net. Both Cory and Bradford said the group helped them topple Partain and Lotman in three sets.<\/p>\n

Sunday, the pack did not make its entrance until well into the match and was far less spirited than the day before, seated for most of the match and seemingly with far fewer insults to dish out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think sometimes they feel the energy too,\u201d Smith said. \u201cLogan and I, we would respond to them sometimes and kind of bring them down a little bit. If you try to block them or get angry at them, that feeds them. So we were kind of budding, joking back and forth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was unsurprising the Blaze couldn\u2019t pull out a win.<\/p>\n

Smith put the match away with an ace. Then he turned to hype up the crowd and ripped off his shirt in celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, when we qualified, we didn\u2019t know what team we were going to be,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI was hopeful to be the LA Launch. \u2026 I never thought I would be on an LA sports team choosing the sport that I did, so it\u2019s so cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AVP League travels to Central Park for Week 6, beginning July 18 and concluding July 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miami Mayhem\u2019s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft celebrate their win against Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon, with L.A.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[21866,7,131,133,132,137,127,1092,10992,3533,125696],"class_list":["post-396281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-beach-volleyball","tag-california","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-sports","tag-ucla","tag-ucla-sports","tag-usc","tag-usc-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}