Palm Beach Passion has won the 2026 AVP Cup. Their season ended eleven days ago, in Central Park. The Cup itself was decided this past weekend at East Hampton, where a substitute pair beat Miami on Sunday to end Miami’s Cup chase by one match point.
Brooklyn Blaze’s Lexy Denaburg and Devon Newberry, subbing in for injured 2025 League Champion Julia Donlin, beat Miami Mayhem’s Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft with a straight-set victory (15-10, 15-13) on Sunday afternoon, ending Miami’s chance at the exact 4-0 sweep they needed to catch Palm Beach’s 13-3 regular season on the tiebreaker. Palm Beach finished with 35 match points to Miami’s 34.
One match. One match point. That’s the margin.
How Palm Beach Won the Cup
Palm Beach Passion completed the regular season on July 19 in Central Park with a 13-3 record (win percentage of 81.25%) and 35 match points. Miami Mayhem needed to catch them at East Hampton, and the math was exact — Miami had to win all four East Hampton matches, and at least one had to come in straight sets to earn the extra match point that would break the tiebreaker.
Miami got three of the four required wins on Saturday and Sunday. Taylor Crabb and Andy Benesh beat San Diego Smash 2-0 (15-13, 17-15). Cheng and Kraft beat San Diego Smash 2-1 (15-13, 12-15, 15-10). Miami men beat Brooklyn Blaze on Sunday afternoon in straight sets.
The Cup-clinching sweep was set up. Then Cheng and Kraft played Sunday’s marquee women’s match against Brooklyn Blaze at 1pm ET on CBSSN — a matchup Miami expected to win — and lost in straight sets.
Palm Beach’s Cup was set. Final margin: 35 match points to 34.
The Brooklyn Weekend That Decided the Cup
Brooklyn Blaze arrived at East Hampton at 2-4 in the women’s standings, missing their reigning League champion, and left with two of the biggest upsets of the season.
Saturday: Brooklyn beat Austin Aces 2-0 (15-10, 15-12). The opening match of the entire weekend on CW at 1pm ET was billed as Austin’s chance to clinch a playoff spot. Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz needed just one win to lock in Austin’s berth. Brooklyn’s Denaburg and Newberry took that away in straight sets. Newberry’s line was extraordinary: .727 hitting percentage, 9 kills, 1 error, 11 attempts, and 3 blocks. It was one of the strongest individual women’s performances of the entire 2026 AVP League season.
Sunday: Brooklyn beat Miami Mayhem 2-0 (15-10, 15-13). The match that ended the AVP Cup chase. Cheng and Kraft had entered as heavy favorites — they hold the second-most match points in the League. Denaburg and Newberry took both sets in straight sets, closing Miami’s Cup path in about 45 minutes.
Devon Newberry ranked second in blocks per set in the 2025 AVP League Season at 0.900 blocks/set, behind only Brandie Wilkerson. She stepped in for Donlin’s lingering knee injury on short notice and played at a championship level in both East Hampton matches. Two upsets, one weekend, and the AVP Cup swung on both.
Palm Beach’s Cup Title
Palm Beach Passion are the 2026 AVP Cup Champions, the second in a row for the franchise, back-to-back. Trevor Crabb and Phil Dalhausser finished the men’s regular season 7-1 with 19 match points, clinching the #2 seed in the men’s bracket. Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson finished the women’s regular season 6-2 with 16 match points, clinching the #1 seed in the women’s bracket.
The Cup itself was earned across the full regular season. Palm Beach set the target at 13-3 and 35 match points on July 19. Miami couldn’t catch it. The exact margin: one match point.
The Playoff Field Snapshot
With Palm Beach’s Cup title decided, the men’s and women’s playoff pictures are nearly set. Here’s where each race stands entering Dallas next weekend:
Men (top 6 qualify):
- Miami Mayhem — #1 seed clinched. 7-1, 20 match points. First-round bye to the semifinals.
- Palm Beach Passion — #2 seed clinched. 7-1, 19 match points. First-round bye to the semifinals.
- Brooklyn Blaze — eliminated. Their 2-6 finish falls behind LA Launch on the head-to-head tiebreaker after LA won their Long Beach meeting.
- Everyone else — still fighting. Dallas Dream, San Diego Smash, LA Launch, and Austin Aces all in play at Dallas for the remaining playoff spots. Austin men earned their first win of the season at East Hampton, beating Brooklyn 2-0.
Women (top 6 qualify):
- Palm Beach Passion — #1 seed clinched.
- NY Nitro — eliminated. Their 2-6 finish sits below every other team’s possible finish.
- LA Launch’s opportunity. LA Launch women (3-3, 10 match points) can take the #2 seed from Miami with a specific outcome at Dallas: sweeping both of their remaining matches in straight sets to finish 5-3 with 16 match points, ahead of Miami’s 14.
- Everyone else — still fighting. LA Launch, Austin Aces, Dallas Dream, and San Diego Smash all still in play for the remaining spots.
What Comes Next
Dallas closes the 2026 AVP League regular season next weekend. The final playoff spots settle. The women’s #2 seed race resolves. Then the AVP League Championships in Chicago.
Follow the race to the playoffs at avp.com/league.