Kelly Cheng & Megan Kraft

If you’re looking for the 2026 women’s team most likely to push the speed of the game forward, start here: Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft.

This isn’t a comfort pairing. It’s a calculated one. Cheng was looking ahead — not backward.

“I was looking at where the game is heading,” she said. “Athleticism, speed, jump setting, doing unique things… I was thinking, who could I do this with? I don’t see anyone else I could do that with other than Meg.”

That’s the identity. Fast. Aggressive. Disruptive. And built intentionally.

A chai meeting halfway

The origin story isn’t dramatic. It’s beach volleyball.

Cheng reached out after World Champs. No big announcement. Just a text.

“I asked if she was free for coffee,” Cheng said. “We met halfway between Huntington and San Diego. We both had chai. We just talked.”

Kraft took time to think.

Then she said yes.

From Kraft’s side, the call carried weight.

“It was really exciting to hear from her,” Kraft said. “She has so much experience. Once we talked about goals and what we both wanted, I felt really excited about the opportunity.”

No rush. No noise. Just alignment.

Why this, why now

Both players were honest: the timing wasn’t accidental.

Cheng wanted a long-term partner — someone she could build with toward LA 2028.

Kraft was trending upward — and fast.

In 2025, Kraft didn’t just improve. She leveled up. Her hitting percentage jumped nearly nine points year-over-year. She led all women in aces per set and was named the AVP’s Best Server. She finished runner-up in MVP voting.

That’s not incremental growth. That’s arrival.

And defensively? She averaged over four digs per set — elite territory in this league.

For Cheng, that matters.

When she’s able to stay aggressive as a high-volume blocker, the offense flows. And Kraft brings both the defensive stability and the serving pressure to make that aggression sustainable.

It’s not about replacing anything.

It’s about expanding what’s possible.

The spice: pushing boundaries — their way

If you want to know where this team is headed stylistically, listen to Cheng.

“I think we’re going to be fast, athletic, and disruptive,” she said. “Yes, the jump setting is something we’re developing — and that’s similar to what the Swedes do — but the rest is us. We’re not trying to be a JV version of anyone. We’re building the varsity version of us.”

Cheng was clear: this isn’t about copying a model. It’s about building a system.

“We are developing our own system,” she said. “You’ll see us push boundaries on the women’s side and play our own style of the game.”

Jump setting is part of it.

Optioning in serve receive is part of it.

Playing fast without telegraphing is part of it.

But the identity won’t be borrowed — it will be built.

Kraft is all in.

“Hopefully the physicality of our team,” she said. “The aggressiveness, the optioning, the jump setting… pushing the boundaries.”

They’ve spent the preseason drilling the basics — passing, setting, defensive reads — so that the “fun stuff” has a foundation.

Because playing fast only works when the floor is solid.

The part you won’t see

The tactical side will get attention.

The structure behind it matters just as much.

“We’re spending a lot of time building that foundation and building a culture of honor and trust right off the bat,” Jordan Cheng said. “Both girls see eye to eye on a lot of core values.”

And that structure isn’t just Jordan. Assistant coach Mike Plaček is part of the build as well — working alongside Jordan to shape the technical details and day-to-day training environment.

As Kraft shared earlier in the preseason:

“We have Jordan Cheng coaching us as our head coach, and then Mike Plaček is our associate head coach.”

Beach volleyball partnerships don’t just break because of skill gaps. They break under pressure.

Jordan doesn’t expect that here.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they go to at least two Olympics together.”

That’s not short-term thinking.

That’s long-term conviction.

What success looks like in 2026

Yes, League 2026 & LA 2028 are the targets.

But neither player is approaching this as a quiet “building year.”

“Obviously we want to win every tournament,” Cheng said. “But we understand this is about building the foundation — responding well in good and bad moments.”

Kraft echoed it — growth now so the ceiling is higher later.

But if the chemistry hits early, this won’t feel like development.

It’ll feel like pressure.

You’re pairing:

• One of the league’s most efficient high-volume blockers.
• The 2025 AVP Best Server and MVP runner-up in the backcourt.
• A defender whose efficiency and scoring both surged in the same season.
• A team intentionally designing its own system rather than imitating someone else’s.

They haven’t played together yet.

Their first test won’t be eased in either — they’ll debut together in the 2026 AVP League Qualification events, where nothing carries over and every new partnership must earn its place.

But stylistically, strategically, and competitively, this partnership doesn’t look cautious.

It looks intentional.

It looks structured.

And it looks like the next version of the women’s game — defined on their terms.