With rain coming down and atop soggy sand, Flint and Scoles played three matches in the span of five hours on Sunday, emerging unscathed in all three. The duo knocked out second-seeded Corinne Quiggle/Sarah Schermerhorn 21-19, 21-13, in a 7 a.m. contenders’ bracket quarterfinals match and upended eighth-seeded Deahna Kraft/Zana Muno 21-13, 21-11, in the semifinals before capping their clean sweep in the finals.

“The emotions are high and low all the time in this sport," said Scoles. "It’s really about trying to stay steady and not riding the highs too high and the lows too low. We know this is such a talented field, and anyone is capable of winning on any given day. We just have to continue to show up each game and try our best and hope for the right outcome. That is exactly what we did this weekend, and I am just so grateful to be here playing the sport I love.”

On the men's side, in a rematch of Saturday’s “Crabb Boil” that sent them into the contenders’ bracket, Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander got revenge on top-seeded Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb by capturing the men’s title. Taylor Crabb will join his older brother Trevor, who won three consecutive MBO championships in 2019, 2021, and 2022, with a Manhattan Beach Open championship under his belt. With this win, the Crabb brothers will also make history as the first blood relatives with plaques on the pier.

 

Crabb and Sander closed out the competition strong with back-to-back straight set sweeps. In the semifinals, the duo overcame 10th-seeded Hagen Smith, son of beach volleyball legend Sinjin Smith, and Logan Webber 23-21, 21-15. With their 27-25, 21-16 men’s finals defeat over Brunner and Crabb, Taylor Crabb prevented his brother from achieving a four-peat. 

“This is legendary," said Sander. "You’re not a legend unless you’re up on that pier, and we’re up there now. These fans are amazing. There’s a freaking hurricane, and they’re cheering in a packed stadium. This is our dream, and we’re living it.”