The Miami Mayhem enjoyed the most productive weekend of the four debuting teams as the cutting-edge AVP League made its second series stop.
The Mayhem went 3-1, with Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner winning both of their matches at the Hard Rock Tennis Center in Miami Gardens, Florida, a venue that is part of the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium complex.
April Ross and Alix Klineman of the Mayhem, gold-medal greats in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, produced the most noteworthy victory of the eight matches contested on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, all of which went two sets.
The new moms reaffirmed that they were more than capable of competing at the very top level of beach volleyball by taking down the reigning Olympic silver medalists, Melissa Humana-Parades and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada, playing for the Palm Beach Passion, on Saturday.
The first set to 15 points between wild-card selections April and Alix and automatic League qualifiers Mel and Brandie (champions in two of the three AVP Heritage Series tournaments in 2024) was on a see-saw until it leveled at 9. A darting ace up the middle by the 6-foot-5 Klineman was shanked by Humana-Parades and gave the Mayhem duo an 11-10 edge. Alix’s sharp-angled chop away from her body made the count 13-12.
Then the 42-year-old Ross stretched out her 6-foot-1 frame to snag Brandie’s angled pokie a few inches above the sand and scored in transition with a nifty slice down the line, gaining crucial two-point (14-12) separation. Klineman punctuated the 15-13 victory by taking out the trash on an overpassed dig by Mel.
The second set got dicey in a hurry for the Canadians, who fell behind 8-4, and it went downhill from there. April and Alix cruised 15-8, the end coming when Wilkerson was whistled for a double. The match lasted just 34 minutes.
Statement accomplished by the “A Team.” Brandie was held to .313 hitting for the match and Mel .250.
“We’ve been working really hard knowing that the League would be our last chance to make a big push,” said Ross, who saw the bulk of the serves, and racked up 11 kills on 23 swings against three errors, dialed up two aces and made nine digs.
“We’ve been trying to bring that intensity every day in practice and it’s gotten better and better. I felt we just needed this under-the-lights big-time match to fully go after it. We’re extremely excited about how it went.”
“We were a little…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Volleyballmag.com…