The AVP beach volleyball tournament heated up on Saturday, leading into an exciting Sunday with the semifinals scheduled. The Chicago Open saw a dramatic double red-card situation for players Chase Budinger and Trevor Crabb. In the upcoming semifinals, the fourth-seeded duo of Budinger and Miles Evans will face off against the third-seeded team of Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander. Meanwhile, the ninth-seeded pair Tim Bomgren and Troy Field will compete against the second-seeded Andy Benesh and Miles Partain. On the women’s side, the top-seeded team of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss will go head-to-head with the second-seeded Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, both teams featuring USA Olympians. Additionally, the sixth-seeded Rodriguez will challenge the third-seeded Canadian Olympians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson.
During a previous match, Budinger and Evans triumphed over Crabb and Theo Brunner with a score of 19-21, 22-20, 15-12, allowing them to advance to the contenders bracket. However, they were later eliminated by Bomgren and Field with a close score of 21-23, 24-22, 15-12. The semifinals and finals will be broadcast on BallyLIVE and the CW.
In NCAA women’s volleyball, the spotlight was on Milwaukee as top-ranked Texas, the two-time defending champion, faced off against No. 3 Wisconsin at 11:30 a.m. Central on Fox, followed by No. 18 Minnesota battling No. 5 Stanford at 2 p.m. on FS1. The competition showcased the nation’s best teams, differing from the current college football scores which highlighted mismatches, such as No. 2 Ohio State defeating Akron 52-6.
After a busy couple of days with numerous matches, Sunday will see a reduction in play but still features several matchups including Georgia vs. Florida State, Tennessee vs. Louisville, Penn State vs. Temple, UC Davis vs. Purdue, and Florida vs. Michigan State. Key performances on Saturday included California beating San Francisco in five sets with standout player Maggie Li delivering an impressive 24 kills. Florida State swept UC Santa Barbara with a .324 hitting percentage, while Miami achieved a .417 hitting percentage in their sweep over Colorado. No. 4 Pitt also maintained their winning streak, sweeping Long Beach State with .351 hitting efficiency.