It had been 16 years since the AVP was at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, WI. Along with perfect weather, the atmosphere during 4th of July weekend was welcoming and electric; fans packed the stadium court making it standing room only!
Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross fought their way to victory after losing the first set to Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat 21-15 and winning the next two 21-16, 15-13. With this win under their belt, this makes it the duo’s 5th title of the 2014 season (2 AVP titles, 3 FIVB titles).
On the men’s side, John Hyden and Tri Bourne pulled off a straight 2-set victory (21-15, 21-18) over Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal after they had lost to them earlier in the tournament, which put them in the contender’s bracket. This win gave Hyden his 23rd domestic title, while Bourne, at only 25 years old, won his first-ever AVP title. Previous to the Milwaukee Open, Hyden and Bourne won their first FIVB event together at the Berlin Grand Slam.
As soon as the finals were over, many teams had to rush to the airport to catch their flights to Gstaad, Switzerland for the next FIVB Grand Slam event. Good luck to all the US teams there competing this week!
And thank you to everyone who helped make the AVP Milwaukee Open a great event! Next stop… Salt Lake City August 8-10th!