{"id":322783,"date":"2026-08-17T00:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/322783\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T00:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:05:09","slug":"taryn-brasher-kristen-cruz-clinch-three-peat-at-manhattan-beach-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/322783\/","title":{"rendered":"Taryn Brasher, Kristen Cruz clinch three-peat at Manhattan Beach Open"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz clinched an AVP Manhattan Beach Open three-peat on Sunday, sweeping Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft.<\/p>\n

It was the tournament\u2019s first three-peat since Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings won four straight titles from 2005-08.<\/p>\n

Brasher and Cruz, the top-ranked women\u2019s pro beach volleyball team out of Louisiana State University, rolled past Cheng and Kraft 2-1 (21-18, 21-16).<\/p>\n

Brasher and Cruz took a commanding 4-1 lead to start the first set, the first of back-and-forth surges by both sides. Cheng and Kraft tied the set at 15, but Brasher and Cruz pulled ahead for the 21-18 win.<\/p>\n

\"Kristen <\/p>\n

Kristen Cruz dives for a dig during the AVP Manhattan Beach Open women\u2019s final at Manhattan Beach Pier on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\"Taryn <\/p>\n

Taryn Brasher, left, and Kristen Cruz celebrate after defeating Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft during the AVP Manhattan Beach Open women\u2019s final Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Brasher and Cruz kept the pressure on during the second match, pulling ahead early 8-6 and leading by as much as 17-12 before closing out the victory.<\/p>\n

On the men\u2019s side, Andy Benesh and Taylor Crabb defeated Thomas Hurst and Gage Basey in two sets (21-14, 21-13) to clinch the tournament title.<\/p>\n

Crabb previously clinched a Manhattan Beach Pier bronze plaque, but it was Benesh\u2019s first time winning the open.<\/p>\n

Crabb and Benesh took a commanding 8-3 lead in the first set with all of the energy flowing on their side. Hurst and Basey rallied to cut the deficit to 8-7, but Benesh ended the scoring drought with a monster block.<\/p>\n

\"Taylor <\/p>\n

Taylor Crabb dives for a ball during the AVP Manhattan Beach Open men\u2019s final at Manhattan Beach Pier on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\"Andy <\/p>\n

Andy Benesh, left, spikes the ball under pressure from Thomas Hurst.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\"Andy <\/p>\n

Andy Benesh and Taylor Crabb stand alongside friends and family after winning the AVP Manhattan Beach Open on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Benesh and Crabb added to their lead to 13-8 with back-to-back blocks and rolled to a 21-14 win.<\/p>\n

The duo led early in the final set and had little trouble delivering a 21-13 victory.<\/p>\n

Crabb had 10 kills and 14 digs during the match, with many of the kills coming during the second set. Benesh closed with 14 kills and eight blocks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz clinched an AVP Manhattan Beach Open three-peat on Sunday, sweeping Kelly Cheng and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[121604,121610,121609,121608,121612,121606,121611,20430,75,120820,84,83,9,24,63,121613,21373,67609,121607,121605,26626],"class_list":["post-322783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-andy-benesh","tag-cheng","tag-gage-basey","tag-kill","tag-kraft-2","tag-kristen-cruz","tag-kristen-cruz-clinch-three-peat","tag-lead","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-beach-open","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-second-match","tag-set","tag-side","tag-taryn-brasher","tag-taylor-crabb","tag-tournament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}