AVP League: Pivotal week 5 as Nitro, Mayhem, Passion, Blaze meet in South Florida

The New York Nitro (7-1) and Miami Mayhem (5-3) are well positioned to qualify for the AVP League playoffs. The Palm Beach Passion (3-5) and Brooklyn Blaze (2-6) have catching up to do.

The innovative League series moves into the second half of its regular-season schedule and back outdoors in Week 5, playing in the 8,200-seat Delray Beach Tennis Center in South Florida. Doubleheaders are on the docket for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon and Sunday’s late game between the Mayhem and Passion is scheduled to air live on CBS Sports Network from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.

After building attendance momentum during indoor events in San Diego and Austin, Texas, in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, which swept across the Florida peninsula in mid-week, the AVP anticipates smaller turnouts in Delray Beach, located in southern Palm Beach County on the Atlantic Coast.

The weather picture for Saturday night is encouraging, with little chance of rain. The forecast for Sunday during the day is more problematic, with possible thunderstorms and an 80% threat of rain. The AVP indicated that competition will be held as scheduled and that the tennis stadium was undamaged during the storm.

The games in Week 5 loom as pivotal for all of the teams. Here’s why:

•  With a two-game advantage in the standings, the first-place Nitro appear locked in to one of the four spots in the postseason and another strong effort would enhance their chances of earning the top seed.
•  The Mayhem technically stand second, with tiebreaker points giving them an edge over the Austin Aces and Dallas Dream, also are 5-3, who are idle this week. The difference-maker for the Mayhem figures to be their game on Saturday night against the Nitro. More on that later.
•  Deadlocked in fifth with the idle LA Launch, the “hometown” Passion likely need to go at least 3-1 to have a realistic shot at getting into the playoffs. That doesn’t seem to be a bridge too far, with a game against the Blaze and a rematch from Week 2 with the Mayhem. Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson have split their matches in each of their first two League stops and a 2-0 effort here would hardly be a surprise.
•  The Blaze find themselves in a make-or-break scenario. Another sub-.500 weekend would assure a losing record and for all purposes eliminate the Blaze from postseason contention. They are seventh…