Palm Beach Clinches. New York Nitro’s Playoff Path Narrows.
The 2026 AVP League’s biggest weekend of the season — measured in playoff stakes — went to Palm Beach Passion. The Florida franchise swept all four of their Vegas matches across both men’s and women’s matchups, vaulting them to the top of the AVP Cup standings; and locking in the first playoff spot of the season.
New York Nitro went in needing to keep their playoff hopes alive across both genders. They lost ground on both. Dallas Dream’s men quietly improved their playoff position. LA Launch went 0-4 at Vegas.
Four events down. Four to go.
Palm Beach Passion Sweep Vegas
Trevor Crabb and Phil Dalhausser opened Friday with a 15-10, 15-11 sweep of LA Launch’s Hagen Smith and Logan Webber — a Vegas rematch of the 2025 AVP League Championship final, which Crabb and Dalhausser won 15-12, 16-14. The straight-set scoreline pattern in both finals is now identical. They followed it Saturday night with a 2-1 win over New York Nitro’s Chaim Schalk and James Shaw (15-12, 10-15, 15-8). The pair improves to 5-1 across three events and sits at #2 on the men’s standings behind San Diego Smash (2-0).
The Palm Beach women’s pair also went 2-0 at Vegas. Brandie Wilkerson played both matches alongside a substitute partner — Savvy Cory (formerly Savvy Simo) who flew into Las Vegas to compete with Wilkerson — after Melissa Humana-Paredes remained out with the hip injury sustained at Miami. Wilkerson and Cory beat LA Launch’s Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon 2-1 (12-15, 15-11, 17-15) on Friday, then beat New York Nitro’s Toni Rodriguez and Molly Shaw 2-1 (16-14, 11-15, 15-10) on Saturday. The Palm Beach women’s pair sits at 4-2 and at #2 on the women’s standings behind Austin Aces.
Combined, Palm Beach went 4-0 in Vegas. They now sit alone at the top of the AVP Cup standings at 9-3 (75%), the team with the most match points in the league (23).
Palm Beach Men Clinch a Playoff Spot
Trevor Crabb and Phil Dalhausser became the first AVP League pair this season to mathematically clinch a 2026 playoff spot.
The men’s playoff format takes the top six teams of eight. Palm Beach sits 5-1 with one event left (Central Park, Week 6), and only two matches remaining as a pair. Their worst-case finish is 5-3 (62.5%). For Palm Beach to miss the top six, six of the other seven men’s pairs would need to finish above 62.5%. New York Nitro, at 1-5 with two matches left, cannot reach 62.5% — their best-case finish is 3-5 (37.5%). LA Launch and Brooklyn Blaze, both at 1-3 with four matches left, can at most reach 5-3 — tied with Palm Beach, not above. That leaves at most four teams who can finish above Palm Beach’s worst-case mark of 62.5%: San Diego Smash, Miami Mayhem, Dallas Dream, and Austin Aces. The other two contenders — LA Launch and Brooklyn Blaze — can at most tie Palm Beach’s worst case, not exceed it.
New York Nitro’s Playoff Path Narrows
New York Nitro entered Vegas with everything on the line for both genders. Both sides lost ground.
The women earned their first AVP League win of the season — Toni Rodriguez and Molly Shaw swept Dallas Dream’s Kylie DeBerg and Betsi Flint 15-7, 15-13 on Friday night. But Saturday’s three-set loss to Palm Beach was the result they couldn’t afford. Rodriguez and Shaw are now 1-5 with two matches remaining at New York Nitro’s home event in Central Park on July 18-19, against San Diego Smash and Austin Aces. They sit dead last (#8) on the women’s standings. To stay alive in the playoff race, they need to win both Central Park matches — and they need significant help from other results.
The men went 0-2 at Vegas. Chaim Schalk and James Shaw lost to Dallas Dream’s Paul Lotman and Miles Partain 2-1 (11-15, 16-14, 10-15), then lost to Palm Beach Passion 2-1 (12-15, 15-10, 8-15). Both losses came in three sets — meaning Schalk and James Shaw have now played four AVP League matches together as the New York Nitro partnership (across Aspen and Vegas) and lost all four in three sets. New York Nitro men also sit at 1-5 — their only AVP League win this season came at Belmar when Theo Brunner subbed for James Shaw. The math is the same as for the women: win both Central Park matches and get help.
Dallas Dream Surge
Lotman and Partain swept both their Vegas matches. They beat New York Nitro 2-1 (15-11, 14-16, 15-10) on Friday, then beat LA Launch’s Smith and Webber 2-1 (15-10, 17-15, 15-13) on Saturday. The Dallas men’s pair improves to 3-1, tied with Miami Mayhem for #3-4 on the men’s standings.
The Dallas men are now in strong position to make the playoffs. With 3-1 across four matches and four matches remaining, even a 1-3 stretch leaves them at 4-4 (50%). Only the bubble teams below them — LA Launch, Brooklyn Blaze, and Austin Aces — can theoretically finish above 50%, but structural constraints make it difficult for all of them to do so. Lotman and Partain are not yet clinched, but they’re close.
Dallas Dream’s women — Kylie DeBerg and Betsi Flint — split their Vegas matches at 1-1, beating LA Launch’s Anderson and Chacon 2-1 (15-13, 8-15, 17-15) and losing to New York Nitro. The Dallas women sit at 2-2.
LA Launch’s Quiet Vegas
After a 2-0 women’s start at Belmar, Anderson and Chacon dropped both their Vegas matches in their first weekend against Olympic-medalist-level competition. The pair sits at 2-2.
Smith and Webber went 0-2 on the men’s side. They lost to Palm Beach 0-2 (15-10, 15-11) and Dallas 2-1 (10-15, 17-15, 15-13). They are now 1-3 across four matches.
The team enters their home weekend in Long Beach 3-5 on the combined AVP Cup standings, in a tie with Brooklyn Blaze for #6-7 of eight.
Updated AVP Cup Standings
Palm Beach Passion leads alone at 9-3 (75%) with 23 match points. San Diego Smash is also at 75% (3-1) but with only four matches played to Palm Beach’s twelve — and San Diego has 12 matches still remaining (three events) compared to Palm Beach’s four (one event). The structural runway is real: San Diego has the most upside left of any team, while Palm Beach has the least left to gain.
Miami Mayhem and Dallas Dream are both at 62.5%. Austin Aces is at 50%. LA Launch and Brooklyn Blaze are both at 37.5%. New York Nitro is at 16.7%.
Four events remain. Follow the race to the playoffs at avp.com/league.