The AVP beach volleyball tournament became more exciting on Saturday, leading up to the semifinals scheduled for Sunday. In a dramatic matchup during the AVP Chicago Open, a double red-card incident involved players Chase Budinger and Trevor Crabb. Budinger and his partner Miles Evans, seeded fourth, will face third-seeded Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander. Meanwhile, ninth-seeded Tim Bomgren and Troy Field will compete against second-seeded Andy Benesh and Miles Partain.
On the women’s side, top-seeded Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss will take on second-seeded Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes in a showdown featuring USA Olympians. Sixth-seeded Rodriguez, who played alongside Kloth and Nuss at LSU, will face the third-seeded Canadian Olympians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson.
Budinger and Evans had an intense match that ended with them overcoming Crabb and Theo Brunner with scores of 19-21, 22-20, 15-12, progressing to the contenders bracket before being eliminated by Bomgren and Field, who won 21-23, 24-22, 15-12.
The semifinals will be available for streaming on BallyLIVE, while the finals will be broadcast on CW.
In NCAA volleyball, this weekend promises high-stakes action, particularly in Milwaukee. The top-ranked Texas Longhorns, two-time defending champions, will take on third-ranked Wisconsin at 11:30 a.m. Central on Fox. Later, at 2 p.m. on FS1, No. 18 Minnesota will compete against fifth-ranked Stanford. In contrast to college football, where lopsided scores abound, NCAA volleyball showcases some of the best talent, with matches featuring highly ranked teams.
On Sunday, several notable matches are scheduled, including Georgia vs. Florida State, Tennessee vs. Louisville, Penn State vs. Temple, UC Davis vs. Purdue, and Florida vs. Michigan State.
Highlighting Saturday’s performances, Cal, now in the ACC, triumphed over San Francisco in a five-set match, with Maggie Li achieving 24 kills, five digs, and four blocks. Cal then secured a sweep against Portland State, maintaining a perfect record at 3-0. Other standout performances included Florida State’s .324 hitting percentage in a sweep of UC Santa Barbara, Boston College’s .385 in a sweep of Iona, and Miami’s impressive .417 in a sweep over Colorado, where Grace Lopez excelled with 12 kills and eight aces. No. 4 Pitt also had a strong outing, sweeping Long Beach State with a hitting percentage of .351.