Crabb and Brunner Victorious

Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner emerged with the mens' title, capping off an exhilarating final day of competition. With this win, Crabb adds his fourth Manhattan Beach Open plaque to the Manhattan Beach Pier, while Brunner secures his first.

(Photo credit: AVP/Mpu Dinani)

The championship match saw Crabb and Brunner deliver a commanding performance, defeating the team of Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, the 2024 Olympians, with scores of 21-18, 21-18. Earlier in the day, Crabb and Brunner faced a grueling semifinal, overcoming defending champions Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in a thrilling three-set encounter, 21-18, 19-21, 15-11, a match that has been dubbed the “Crabb Boil.”

(Photo credit: Pete Halvorsen)

Brunner shared his thoughts heading into the tournament after the challenging year he and Crabb faced: “Realistically, I was looking at this as my last chance to play serious volleyball, but who knows. If we keep dominating, I might keep playing. This is the last chance I’m going to have with a great partner and a great opportunity, so it’s now or never.”

Reflecting on the journey to victory, Brunner said, "It was a tough year for us. We played awesome the last few years and didn’t make the Olympics. Then, Trevor almost dumped me, and I was like, ‘Dude, are you serious? I just want to win Manhattan with you.’ So we did, even though I had to push him into it a little bit."

Crabb added: "I don’t know what to say, but I think this might be the best of my four MBO wins. I’m just happy for my guy to get on the pier. This tournament is so hard to win, and this is redemption for us. We should have been at the Olympics. We think we’re the best, and we’re just trying to prove it."

“I think this is the best tournament in the world ever," Crabb added. "The atmosphere feels iconic here with everyone. You just can’t beat this.”

Kloth and Nuss Clinch Victory

Just one week after their return from the Paris Olympics, Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss captured their first-ever Manhattan Beach Open title with an 18-21, 21-17, 15-9 victory over the defending champions, Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles.

(Photo credit: AVP/Mpu Dinani)

"Kristen does not let the ball touch the ground, and you can just tell that she has so much hustle in her and so much fight. She inspires me and makes me want to work even harder," said Kloth. "We’ve been in tough situations before, and we just trust the process and our training when we are in those tight situations. We just focus on the single point at a time."

Nuss added, "It’s been a tough week and a half, especially just with travel, but we obviously love this sport, so it was just coming back out here. This is the most iconic tournament, so getting the opportunity to come out and compete, we couldn’t miss it, and to now be walking away with this (plaque), it means that much more."

(Photo credit: AVP/Mpu Dinani)

The AVP Manhattan Beach Open featured 32-team women’s and men’s fields competing in a double-elimination bracket across ten courts from Friday through Sunday. Each gender’s bracket consisted of 16 teams automatically entered based on the AVP ranking points, four teams from the Denver Open Contender Event, four teams from the Waupaca Contender Event, and eight teams who earned entry through Thursday’s qualifier.

(Photo credit: Pete Halvorsen)

 

Sunday’s Results

Women:

Semifinals

• (1) Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss def. (8) Toni Rodriguez/Geena Urango, 21-17, 21-14
• (3) Betsi Flint/Julia Scoles def. (2) Kelly Cheng/Sara Hughes, 21-17, 17-21, 15-11

Final

• (1) Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss def. (3) Betsi Flint/Julia Scoles, 18-21, 21-17, 15-9

Men:

Semifinals

• (1) Theo Brunner/Trevor Crabb def. (2) Taylor Crabb/Taylor Sander, 21-18, 19-21, 15-11
• (3) Andy Benesh/Miles Partain def. (5) Chase Budinger/Miles Evans, 24-26, 24-22, 15-10

Final

• (1) Theo Brunner/Trevor Crabb def. (3) Andy Benesh/Miles Partain, 21-18, 21-18

AVP League

In addition to their tournament victories, both Kloth/Nuss and Brunner/Crabb have earned automatic eligibility for the 2024 AVP League Draft.

The AVP League will feature eight teams representing cities including Austin, Brooklyn, Dallas, LA, Miami, New York, Palm Beach, and San Diego. Each team will consist of one men’s and one women’s pair, with two reserve players available for each event if needed.