Two Texas Teams Making Their League Debuts
Two weeks of AVP League play are in the books. Florida is next.
Week 3 takes the 2026 AVP League to Sephora Arena in Miami on June 12-13 — an indoor arena setting for the second installment of the Florida City Rivalry between Palm Beach Passion and Miami Mayhem; the League debuts for both Texas teams (Austin Aces and Dallas Dream ); and 10 of 16 athletes on the schedule who have competed in an Olympic Games.
How to watch: Live broadcasts on CBS Sports Network Friday from 6:00-8:00 PM ET; and on The CW Saturday from 7:00-9:00 PM ET, with additional matches streaming on the AVP YouTube Channel.
Before Miami, a brief look back at Aspen.
Aspen Recap
Miami Mayhem and Palm Beach Passion both went 3-1 at Aspen. They split their head-to-head — Palm Beach won the women’s match 17-15, 11-15, 15-10, Miami Mayhem won the men’s 15-10, 15-12 — and swept their remaining matchups. Both teams head into Miami with identical 3-1 records.
Taylor beat Trevor. The first Crabb Brothers matchup of the regular season went to Taylor in two straight, 15-10 and 15-12. The win brings Taylor’s AVP League head-to-head against his brother to 2-2 after Trevor won their only 2025 League meeting. Trevor still leads the lifetime head-to-head 19-13 across all professional play. The second Crabb Brothers matchup of the regular season comes this weekend in Miami.
Palm Beach reversed the 2025 Women’s Finals. In a rematch of the 2025 AVP League Championship final — which Brooklyn won 15-10, 15-10 — Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson took down Denaburg and Donlin 15-6, 15-10 to flip the result.
Brooklyn took the East Coast Rivalry weekend. After splitting at Belmar, Brooklyn swept New York Nitro at Aspen on both sides — 25-23, 15-9 for the women and 15-12, 6-15, 15-13 for the men. Brooklyn is now 3-1 against New York across the back-to-back City Rivalry weekends. New York’s only win came at Belmar from Theo Brunner subbing in for James Shaw.
The League Cup Leaderboard. Four teams are tied at 3-1 after two weeks: Miami Mayhem, San Diego Smash, LA Launch, and Palm Beach Passion. Brooklyn Blaze sits at 3-5. New York Nitro is at 1-7. Austin Aces and Dallas Dream make their League debuts this weekend in Miami.
The Florida City Rivalry Concludes
The Florida City Rivalry comes down to Sephora Arena. Palm Beach Passion and Miami Mayhem split their Aspen meeting and meet again this weekend with bragging rights on the line.
Palm Beach Passion is the only team returning the same roster from last season. They enter Miami as the 2025 AVP Cup Champions, the 2025 men’s AVP League Champions (Trevor Crabb and Phil Dalhausser), and the 2025 women’s AVP League Championship runners-up (Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson). Dalhausser is the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist, Volleyball Hall of Fame inductee, and most decorated player in AVP history, competing at age 46.
Miami Mayhem is on home sand. Taylor Crabb and Andy Benesh enter Miami 2-0 in their AVP League debut after winning at Aspen. Crabb is a six-time AVP Best Defensive Player — the most in tour history. Benesh is a 2024 Paris Olympian. Their first event together as partners produced an AVP Heritage title at Huntington Beach. On the women’s side, Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft enter 1-1 from their Aspen debut. Cheng is a two-time Olympian, 2023 World Champion, and 2022 AVP MVP. Kraft is the 2025 AVP Best Server and 2025 AVP MVP runner-up.
The Headline Matchup: Brasher/Cruz vs Cheng/Kraft
Friday’s women’s opener at Sephora Arena delivers the biggest single matchup of the early season.
Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz make their 2026 AVP League debut at Miami for the Austin Aces. They are 2024 Paris Olympians currently tied for third in the world. Cruz is the 2025 AVP Best Defender, 2023 AVP MVP, and the winningest player in NCAA beach volleyball history with 139 career victories at LSU. Brasher and Cruz have played in the title match in each of their last seven AVP events.
Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft are arguably the second-best US women’s team on the international circuit. Cheng is a two-time Olympian, 2023 World Champion, and 2022 AVP MVP who has reached the semifinals in 35 of her 44 career AVP tournaments. Kraft is the 2025 AVP Best Server, 2025 AVP MVP runner-up, and led all women in aces per set in the 2025 AVP League season. The duo enter Miami 1-1 from their AVP League debut at Aspen, with a three-set win over Toni Rodriguez and Molly Shaw and a three-set loss to Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson.
This is the first meeting between Cheng and Kraft as a partnership against Brasher and Cruz — but neither player is new to the matchup. Cheng has played Brasher and Cruz 13 times across her career with four different partners since 2021, going 5-8 overall but winning two of her last three meetings, including the most recent at 2025 League Week 7. Cheng is also undefeated against Brasher and Cruz in AVP League play across the last two seasons, going 2-0 in 2024 and 2025. Kraft has played them five times with two different partners, going 1-4, with the most recent meeting a straight-set loss at 2025 League Week 8.
World No. 3 against the most anticipated new US women’s pairing of 2026.
The Texas Teams Make Their League Debut
Austin Aces and Dallas Dream have not played a single AVP League match in 2026. Both debut at Miami.
Austin Aces features Brasher and Cruz on the women’s side and Troy Field and Ryan Wilcox on the men’s side. Field and Wilcox qualified for the League by winning the third and final qualifier, sweeping every match without dropping a set. Field is the 2024 AVP Ambassador of the League. Wilcox is a product of Punahou High School in Hawaii — the same program that produced both Crabb brothers.
Dallas Dream features two new partnerships. Kylie DeBerg and Betsi Flint qualified for the League at the first qualifier by defeating top-seeded Cheng and Kraft in a three-set final. Flint is a six-time AVP Champion and three-time AVP Best Server who returned to competition six months after the birth of her second child. She has played in an AVP title match in nine straight years. Paul Lotman and Miles Partain are a reunited partnership — they won their first AVP title together in Atlanta in 2022. Partain is the 2024 AVP MVP and 2024 Paris Olympian who went 8-0 in the 2024 AVP League regular season without dropping a set. Lotman is a 2012 Olympic indoor volleyball player who finished fifth at the London Games.
Two Dallas Dream matchups carry rematch context. Cheng and Kraft face DeBerg and Flint in the Friday opener — a rematch of the first qualifier final that DeBerg and Flint won in three sets. Trevor Crabb and Dalhausser face Lotman and Partain in a Florida-vs-Texas matchup of veterans on opposite sides of the net.
Austin Aces and Dallas Dream also meet each other on Saturday in the Texas City Rivalry.
10 Olympians at Sephora Arena
Miami features more Olympians than any event on the 2026 AVP League schedule. The 10 athletes who have competed in an Olympic Games:
- Phil Dalhausser (2008 Gold, four-time Olympian)
- Melissa Humana-Paredes (Paris 2024 Silver, two-time Olympian)
- Brandie Wilkerson (Paris 2024 Silver)
- Kelly Cheng (two-time Olympian, Tokyo and Paris)
- Andy Benesh (Paris 2024)
- Taylor Crabb (Tokyo 2021)
- Taryn Brasher (Paris 2024)
- Kristen Cruz (Paris 2024)
- Miles Partain (Paris 2024)
- Paul Lotman (London 2012, indoor)
How to Watch
Friday, June 12 (Eastern Time)
- 5:00 PM — Men: Austin Aces vs Miami Mayhem (YouTube)
- 6:00 PM — Women: Austin Aces vs Miami Mayhem (CBS Sports Network)
- 7:00 PM — Women: Dallas Dream vs Palm Beach Passion (CBS Sports Network)
- 8:00 PM — Men: Dallas Dream vs Palm Beach Passion (YouTube)
Saturday, June 13 (Eastern Time)
- 5:00 PM — Men: Austin Aces vs Dallas Dream (YouTube)
- 6:00 PM — Women: Austin Aces vs Dallas Dream (YouTube)
- 7:00 PM — Women: Miami Mayhem vs Palm Beach Passion (CW)
- 8:00 PM — Men: Miami Mayhem vs Palm Beach Passion (CW)
All YouTube matches stream on the AVP YouTube Channel.
Event Details
The 2026 AVP Miami event runs Friday and Saturday, June 12-13, at Sephora Arena in Miami. Doors open at 4:00 PM both days; play runs from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM ET. For full event details, visit the event page. Get your tickets here.
For all 2026 AVP League scores, standings, matchups, and more, visit avp.com/league.
AVP members get 10% off all event tickets, 25% off AVP merch, and 30% off Wilson volleyballs. Join at members.avp.com.
Two weeks down. Ten Olympians indoors. Miami is next.