Four Matchups to Watch at Saturday’s AVP League Qualifier
Single elimination has a way of making every point feel heavier. The pressure is palpable.
On Saturday, 16 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams will descend upon Manhattan Beach for the first of three AVP League qualification events — a single-day, single-elimination bracket where one loss ends your run. All four courts will stream live on the AVP’s YouTube Channel. The men’s first-round matches begin at 8:00 AM; the women to follow at 10:00 AM. By late afternoon, one men’s team and one women’s team will have earned automatic berths into the 2026 AVP League.
With first-round matches unfolding simultaneously across all four courts, this preview highlights four must-see matchups. Every match in this bracket carries weight. These four carry a little extra.
Women’s Match 4 — (13) Batenhorst / Hughes vs. (4) Rice / Urango | 10:00 AM, Court 4
These four players have already faced each other this year — and the result still lingers.
At the Tlaxcala Challenge in Mexico, Sara Hughes and Ally Batenhorst earned a bronze medal by defeating Geena Urango and Megan Rice in straight sets. It was their second consecutive Challenge-level podium after a bronze at Bhubaneswar just two weeks prior, where Batenhorst — in only her second career Beach Pro Tour appearance — put up 25 points including six blocks. Two events, two podiums, and a partnership that is clearly producing ahead of schedule.
Hughes is a former World Champion and Paris Olympian returning from a torn Achilles. She competed for the New York Nitro during the 2024 AVP League season. Batenhorst brings size at 6-foot-5 and a high-level indoor background from Nebraska and USC.
On the other side, Urango enters as the back-to-back 2024 and 2025 MVP of the AVP — one of the most efficient offensive players in the women’s field. Tlaxcala marked her first Beach Pro Tour appearance in seven years, and the 22nd-seeded pair punched well above their billing all week — advancing through the bracket to the bronze medal match before falling to Hughes and Batenhorst. A fourth-place finish in your first international event in seven years is hard to dismiss. Rice, who played for the New York Nitro in 2025, brings athleticism, net presence, and a cannon of an arm.
As the 4-seed, Urango and Rice hold the higher position. But Batenhorst and Hughes have already beaten them once this year. That kind of history makes a first-round draw feel anything but routine.
Women’s Match 1 — (1) Cheng / Kraft vs. (16) Graudina / Stivrins | 10:00 AM, Court 1
Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft are the top seed and one of the most anticipated new partnerships in the women’s field. Cheng brings elite offensive efficiency. Kraft was the 2025 AVP Best Server and MVP runner-up. And in their first tournament together, they immediately looked the part — earning a bronze medal at the João Pessoa Elite 16 in Brazil, sweeping through pool play and navigating a tough three-set quarterfinal over Paraguayan Olympians before falling to tournament favorites Ana Patricia and Duda in the semifinals. A podium in your debut event at the Elite 16 level is a statement.
But drawing Tina Graudina in the opening round is not the kind of 16-seed matchup any top seed wants. Graudina is a two-time Olympian for Latvia who finished fourth in Tokyo and fifth in Paris, a two-time European Champion, and a World Champion. She finished her collegiate career at USC with a 122-9 record and two NCAA championships. Lauren Stivrins adds size at 6-foot-4 and built an elite indoor career at Nebraska as a three-time All-American. Neither player has AVP League experience — but when a World Champion and a three-time indoor All-American are across the net, the seed numbers start to feel less relevant.
Men’s Match 6 — (11) Pickett / Schachter vs. (6) Cook / Miller | 9:00 AM, Court 2
Cook and Miller are one of only three partnerships from the 2025 AVP League season still intact, having competed together as the Brooklyn Blaze. They’re also familiar with this format — the pair won a qualifier event last year to punch their ticket into the 2025 season. That combination of League experience and qualification experience is rare in a bracket full of new pairings and unfamiliar combinations.
But the 11-seed across the net is not a team to overlook. Sam Schachter is a two-time Olympian for Canada, with appearances in Rio 2016 and Paris 2024, giving him and Jonathan Pickett one of the deepest international credentials in the field. Pickett anchors the net. Schachter controls the backcourt. Since teaming up in October 2024, they’ve won a NORCECA event in December 2025, and earlier this year posted a ninth-place finish at an Elite 16 event in Brazil. An experienced AVP League team against a pair with Olympic pedigree and international momentum — both teams have reasons to believe they can win this match, and neither will be caught off guard.
Men’s Match 8 — (15) LaBouliere / Rivera vs. (2) Schalk / Shaw | 8:00 AM, Court 4
Chaim Schalk and James Shaw of last year’s Miami Mayhem, enter as the No. 2 seed. They won a qualifier event last year to earn their League spot and carry both AVP League experience and familiarity with this format into Saturday. But this first-round draw is not as clean as the bracket position suggests.
Jacob LaBouliere arrives at 6-foot-9 with recent international results that demand attention. At the Tlaxcala Challenge in Mexico, LaBouliere and partner Cody Caldwell — seeded 29th — pulled off one of the tournament’s biggest upsets, defeating fourth-seeded Australian Olympians Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher before eventually falling to the same pair in the round of 16. LaBouliere is competing Saturday alongside Rivera rather than Caldwell, but the form and confidence from that international run travel with him. Schalk and Shaw will need to take this matchup seriously from the first point.
Other Names to Know
The bracket extends well beyond the four matchups above. Several other teams enter Saturday with recent international results that add weight to their qualifier campaigns.
Devon Newberry and Savvy Simo, the 8-seed on the women’s side, delivered one of the standout American performances of the early international season at the João Pessoa Elite 16 in Brazil. Coming through qualifying, they stunned reigning world champions Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova in pool play, swept their pool 3-0, and advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Italy’s Scampoli and Bianchi for a fifth-place finish. Beating world champions out of the qualifier is no small thing. At Tlaxcala, they won their pool opener but exited early, finishing ninth. The Brazil result remains the headline.
Piper Ferch and Teegan Van Gunst, the 6-seed on the women’s side, only competed at João Pessoa of the three recent international events, but made the most of it. They entered as a lucky loser, survived an extra elimination match, and then upset fourth-seeded Germans Paul and Kunst in the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals, finishing fifth. Advancing that deep at an Elite 16 after entering through the lucky loser path is a result that stands on its own.
Molly Phillips and Abby Van Winkle, the 10-seed on the women’s side, showed steady improvement across the international window. At João Pessoa, they drew a tough pool with Ana Patricia and Duda and exited in the round of 16, finishing ninth. At Tlaxcala, they came out sharper — opening with a win over Argentina and advancing to the quarterfinals for a fifth-place finish. The progression from ninth to fifth is a quiet signal for a pair still finding its footing.
On the men’s side, Cody Caldwell enters with momentum from his recent international run alongside Jacob LaBouliere. At the Tlaxcala Challenge, the pair came through qualifying as the 29th seed and upset fourth-seeded Australian Olympians Nicolaidis and Carracher — a result that also came at the expense of Troy Field and Ryan Wilcox, who lost to Caldwell and LaBouliere in the Tlaxcala qualifier and now sit as the 5-seed in Saturday’s men’s bracket. Caldwell competes Saturday alongside Wyatt Harrison as the 7-seed. Harrison has been training with Trevor Crabb while Phil Dalhausser is in Florida. Different partner, but the confidence from Mexico carries forward.
Every court. Every match. Every point — streaming live on the AVP YouTube Channel.
Saturday. Manhattan Beach. The qualification race starts now.