History was made Friday at the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open, when a pair from Seattle, two University of Washington players in only their second pro event, knocked off the No. 1 seed.
No. 32-seeded Chloe Loreen and Natalie Robinson, who played earlier this summer in AVP Waupaca and lost in the women’s final stunned top-seeded Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles 21-19, 15-21, 15-12. It was the biggest upset in AVP history, the first time a No. 32 beat a No. 1.
Loreen, a 6-footer, and Robinson, 5-11, were AVCA All-Americans this past spring for Washington. Later Friday, they knocked off 16th-seeded Macy Jerger and Megan Rice 21-14, 21-17, and Saturday play eighth-seeded Deahna Kraft and Zana Muno.
Flint and Scoles came back with a vengeance in their first elimination match, crushing Katie Lindstrom and Carlie Wopat 21-11, 21-11. But then they got all they could handle from Lexy Denaburg and Carly Kan before coming away with a 21-17, 13-21, 15-11 victory. They’ll play Larissa and Lili on Saturday in what should be an epic contenders-bracket match.
There are other surprises in the eight unbeaten women’s teams, including 28th-seeded Katie Spieler and Torrey Van Winden, who came through the qualifier and upset the fifth-seeded pair of Canadian Sarah Pavan and Geena Urango before beating 12th-seeded Jessica Gaffney and Katie Horton.
The men’s side went more to form.
The eight unbeatens include top-seeded Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb, second-seeded Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk, third seeded Chase Budinger and Miles Evans and fourth-seeded Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander.
The AVP said Friday that although a major storm is headed toward Southern California, no changes are planned for Saturday’s schedule. To see that schedule, go to avp.com/brackets
All matches on stadium court will stream live on ESPN+ in the United States and on TSN+ in Canada, and all matches played on courts 1 and 2 will be available live on the Bally Live app. The men’s and women’s finals are scheduled to air live on ESPN2 on Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific.
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Winner’s Bracket
Round 1
Theo Brunner/Trevor Crabb (1) def. John Schwengel/David Wieczorek (32, Q11) 21-17, 21-9 (0:39)
Andrew Dentler/Jacob Landel (17) def. John-Michael Plummer/Ian Satterfield (16) 21-17, 18-21, 16-14 (1:01)
Tim Bomgren/Paul Lotman (9) def. Cash Adamsen/Wyatt Harrison (24, Q2)…
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