\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Granddaddy of Them All<\/p>\n
Established in 1960, the Manhattan Beach Open is synonymous with the word iconic in the sport of beach volleyball. The Granddaddy of them all returns this Friday through Sunday with the biggest draw of the season and the highest stakes \u2014 64 teams across the two main draws, 160 more fighting Thursday for just 16 qualifier spots, and free general admission on the sand surrounding the Manhattan Beach Pier.<\/p>\n
The field carries every storyline the 2026 AVP League season built. The back-to-back Cup champions have split up. The two-time defending women\u2019s champions arrive as the hottest team in the sport. And the men\u2019s #1 seed is a partnership born, improbably, from a shove.<\/p>\n
Dallas Set the Chicago Field<\/p>\n
Before Manhattan Beach, the regular season closed in Dallas \u2014 and Austin Aces rewrote the playoff picture in one weekend.<\/p>\n
Austin swept all four of their matches at Comerica Center. The men, who needed to win both matches in straight sets to clinch \u2014 the hardest qualifying condition of any team in the field \u2014 did exactly that, beating Dallas Dream and LA Launch without dropping a set, including a 28-26 second set against LA that ranks among the longest of the season. Three weeks ago Troy Field and Ryan Wilcox were 0-4. They enter the playoffs as the #5 seed.<\/p>\n
The Austin women did even more. Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz swept both matches to finish 5-3 with 14 match points \u2014 level with Miami Mayhem on both marks, with Austin holding the head-to-head from their meeting in Miami. That gives Austin the #2 seed in Chicago and the semifinal bye that comes with it.<\/p>\n
The host missed. Dallas Dream\u2019s men entered the weekend needing to win just one set across two matches and lost both by sweep, the only scenario that could keep them out. And LA Launch\u2019s women finished level with San Diego Smash on wins and match points, with San Diego holding the head-to-head from Friday night \u2014 ending Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon\u2019s season one tiebreaker short.<\/p>\n
The Chicago fields are set. Men: Miami Mayhem, Palm Beach Passion, San Diego Smash, New York Nitro, Austin Aces, LA Launch. Women: Palm Beach Passion, Austin Aces, Miami Mayhem, Brooklyn Blaze, Dallas Dream, San Diego Smash. The full Championships breakdown \u2014 every seed, every bracket path \u2014 comes in next week\u2019s blog. Chicago runs September 5-6.<\/p>\n
The Men\u2019s Draw: The Push Becomes a Partnership<\/p>\n
Two years ago in Chicago, Chase Budinger shoved Trevor Crabb during a side switch on center court. This weekend they are the #1 seed at the Manhattan Beach Open, playing together on US soil for the first time.<\/p>\n
The partnership carries more than history. Trevor Crabb is chasing his fifth Manhattan Beach Open title. Budinger is the defending champion \u2014 he won it in 2025 with Miles Evans, and with that partnership now split, the 2025 title can only be defended against itself. Evans enters at #9 with Alex Ranghieri; both wild card pairs in the field, Evans\/Ranghieri and Phil Dalhausser\/Taylor Sander, qualified on points, with wild cards applied for international and seeding reasons.<\/p>\n
Dalhausser is the other half of the weekend\u2019s biggest subplot. The most decorated player in AVP history split from Trevor Crabb after their back-to-back Cup titles and enters at the #8 seed with Sander, chasing his eighth Manhattan Beach Open title. If seeds hold, Dalhausser and Trevor Crabb meet Saturday at 8am on stadium court \u2014 the Cup-winning partnership, dissolved, colliding in the winners bracket with the loser dropping to the contenders side.<\/p>\n
And the brothers are on a collision course again. Taylor Crabb and Andy Benesh, fresh off locking the #1 men\u2019s seed for Chicago, are seeded #2. The winners bracket keeps Trevor and Taylor apart until the final. Taylor is chasing his second Manhattan Beach Open title. Benesh is chasing his first.<\/p>\n
The Women\u2019s Draw: The Three-Peat Against Everyone Chasing Their First<\/p>\n
Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz arrive at the Manhattan Beach Open as the #1 seed, the champions of 2024 and 2025, and the hottest team in the sport \u2014 days removed from a four-set sweep in Dallas that took the #2 Chicago seed. This weekend they chase a third consecutive Manhattan Beach Open title.<\/p>\n
Across the draw stands everyone still searching for a first one. Megan Kraft and Kelly Cheng, seeded #2 after locking Miami\u2019s Chicago berth, have never won it. Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, seeded #3 and fresh off Palm Beach\u2019s Cup title and the #1 women\u2019s seed for Chicago, have never won it either. Four of the best players in the world, all chasing the one title that has eluded them, all standing between the defending champions and history.<\/p>\n
The season-long thread runs through it: Brasher and Cruz lead the career head-to-head with Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, but Palm Beach took their Central Park meeting in straight sets on CBS. If the bracket delivers the rematch, it will be for a place in Manhattan Beach history.<\/p>\n
The League Remix<\/p>\n
The Heritage draw shuffles the League partnerships, and the best new pairing writes itself: Savvy Cory and Devon Newberry, seeded #5, together. The two most consequential substitutes of the 2026 season \u2014 Cory went 2-0 filling in for Palm Beach in Vegas, Newberry went 2-0 at East Hampton and swung the AVP Cup \u2014 are now partners. Their side of the bracket could cross Lexy Denaburg\u2019s in the round of 16.<\/p>\n
Denaburg enters at #4 with Terese Cannon, the two-year AVP League athlete and former LA Launch player returning from January shoulder surgery. Julia Donlin, Denaburg\u2019s Brooklyn Blaze partner, continues recovering from her knee injury with a target of returning for Chicago, where Brooklyn holds the #4 seed.<\/p>\n
New York Nitro\u2019s pair splits into two entries \u2014 Toni Rodriguez at #13 with Isabella Martinez, Molly Shaw at #10 with Molly Phillips.<\/p>\n
How to Attend and Watch<\/p>\n
Thursday, August 13: On-site qualifier \u2014 160 teams, 16 spots. Walk of Fame ceremony on the Manhattan Beach Pier at 3:30pm.<\/p>\n
Friday, August 14: Main draw opening rounds. Competition begins at 8am. Box office opens at 7am, ticketed areas at 7:30am. All courts stream on the\u00a0 AVP YouTube Channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Saturday, August 15: Elimination rounds through the semifinals, 8am start. Stadium and feature courts stream on Bally Sports Live and AVP YouTube.<\/p>\n Sunday, August 16: Semifinals and finals on stadium court. Live on CBS Sports Network from 1:00-3:00 PM ET and CW from 4:00-6:30 PM ET.<\/p>\n Admission is free all weekend, with reserved ticketed seating available. Get tickets\u00a0 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n AVP members get 10% off all event tickets, 25% off AVP merch, and 30% off Wilson volleyballs. Join at\u00a0 members.avp.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Who will cement their name in history on the Manhattan Beach Pier this year? Sixty-six years of champions are about to find out who joins them. And in three weeks, Chicago crowns the rest \u2014 the full AVP League Championships breakdown lands in next week\u2019s blog.<\/p>\n