By Megan Kaplon

If it had been any other team who came into the AVP Huntington Beach Open and waxed every opponent that dared to take the sand with them, the volleyball world would be on fire. But when Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross steam through the 16-team AVP main draw only allowing opponents to score an average of 11.6 points per set, no one blinks an eye. 

Walsh Jennings and Ross continued their undefeated AVP tour streak that extends all the way back to the beginning of the 2014 season, sweeping Geena Urango and Angela Bensend in the Huntington Beach Open final 21-13, 21-16. Urango and Bensend have now finished second in the last two AVP tournaments.

In the men’s tournament, Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb advanced to the final without dropping a set. Against Taylor and Trevor Crabb in the title match, the top internationally ranked USA men’s duo won 21-19, 23-21. 

The second-place finish marked a career high for the Crabb brothers. On their way to the final, the pair of Long Beach State alums sent four teams—Avery Drost and Gregg Weaver, Brad Keenan and Ty Tramblie, Billy Allen and Theo Brunner and John Mayer and Ryan Doherty—to the contenders’ bracket. 

Miles Evans also scored a career high in the men’s field. Partnered with Curt Toppel, Evans, a 26-year-old Santa Barbara native, advanced out of the qualifier and all the way to the contenders’ bracket final, finishing fifth. 

Two men’s pairs chose to drop out of the competition due to injury. Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena played only one match (a 21-14, 21-11 defeat of Riley and Maddison McKibbin) before withdrawing. Lucena tweaked his shoulder and with the rainy weather and wet, heavy balls, the duo chose to err on the side of caution. They plan to appear next in the FIVB Cincinnati Open May 17-22. 

Theo Brunner and Billy Allen were midway through the first set of their semifinal match versus Patterson and Gibb when Brunner began to suffer from a recurring calf injury. The duo withdrew down 14-7. 

The AVP tour continues with the Seattle Open, June 2-5.

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