Four Teams. One Weekend.
The 2026 AVP League regular season ends under the lights at Comerica Center.
Dallas is the last stop, and it doubles as a playoff play-in. Four cities are done and watching: Palm Beach, Miami, Brooklyn, and New York. The other four — Dallas Dream, LA Launch, Austin Aces, and San Diego Smash — play their final matches this weekend with playoff spots on the line. Three of the four will make the playoffs on the men’s side, and the same goes for the women’s side. One team in each gender will miss the AVP League Championships in Chicago. Whoever falls short finds out this weekend.
Live broadcasts on CBS Sports Network Friday night and CW Saturday night, with additional matches on the AVP YouTube Channel both nights. The full broadcast schedule is below.
Win and In
Here is what is already settled. Palm Beach Passion won the AVP Cup and locked the top women’s seed and the second men’s seed. Miami Mayhem locked the top men’s seed and a women’s berth. New York Nitro’s men climbed from 1-5 to a locked playoff berth on the strength of their Central Park sweep. Brooklyn Blaze’s women locked their berth behind the two East Hampton wins from Lexy Denaburg and Devon Newberry. Brooklyn’s men and New York’s women are out.
Everything else is live, and all of it is in Dallas.
Men: Dallas Dream (3-3) and San Diego Smash (3-3) arrive in strong position and need very little. LA Launch (2-4) and Austin Aces (1-5) have the most to do, and they play each other, so that match carries real weight. Three of the four make the playoff field. One is left out.
Women: LA Launch, Austin, and Dallas Dream all arrive at 3-3, each needing only a modest result. San Diego Smash (2-4) has the steepest climb and has to keep winning to stay alive. Same math as the men: three make it, one is left behind.
The Swing Match: LA Launch vs Austin Aces Men
Saturday at 9pm ET on CW delivers the match that most decides the men’s bubble.
LA Launch’s Hagen Smith and Logan Webber and Austin Aces’ Troy Field and Ryan Wilcox meet head to head with the last playoff spots hanging between them. One of these two teams is the most likely to miss the field, and instead of needing help, they get to settle it directly. The winner takes a major step toward the final spot. The loser’s path narrows to almost nothing.
Austin arrives with something they did not have two weeks ago: a win. Field and Wilcox beat Brooklyn Blaze in straight sets at East Hampton for their first victory of the season, and their weekend starts Friday against the host Dallas Dream. LA Launch controls more of its own fate, but the Saturday night meeting with Austin is the match that matters most for both.
San Diego Women on the Brink
Megan Rice and Geena Urango have the sharpest urgency of the weekend. At 2-4, San Diego’s women need to keep winning to keep their season going — a single loss in Dallas likely closes the door.
They open Friday at 7pm ET on CBS Sports Network against LA Launch’s Maddie Anderson and Alaina Chacon, then close Saturday against the host Dallas Dream. Every San Diego women’s set this weekend is must-see for exactly one reason: their season stays alive only as long as they keep winning matches.
Dallas Dream at Home
The host city closes the season fighting for two playoff berths in front of its own crowd.
Dallas Dream is the best positioned of the four teams on site. Paul Lotman and Miles Partain arrive at 3-3 on the men’s side needing very little to punch their ticket. Kylie DeBerg and Betsi Flint arrive at 3-3 on the women’s side needing only a modest result. A host city playing meaningful playoff volleyball in the final event of the year, at night, indoors at Comerica Center, is the cleanest story of the weekend.
Their schedule: the men and women both face Austin Aces on Friday and San Diego Smash on Saturday.
The Women’s #2 Seed Chase
The seed behind Palm Beach is still open, and Miami Mayhem is watching from the couch.
Miami finished 5-3 and holds the inside track for the second seed — and the semifinal bye that comes with it. But LA Launch and Austin Aces can still take it with a big weekend in Dallas. For both teams, Saturday’s head-to-head women’s match at 8pm ET on CW carries seeding weight beyond just making the field: a strong enough finish moves the winner past Miami on the tiebreakers.
Anderson and Chacon against Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz, under the lights, with a berth and a bye both potentially in play.
How to Watch
Friday, August 7 (ET)
- 7:00 PM — Women: LA Launch vs San Diego Smash (CBS Sports Network)
- 8:00 PM — Women: Austin Aces vs Dallas Dream (CBS Sports Network)
- 9:00 PM — Men: LA Launch vs San Diego Smash (YouTube)
- 10:00 PM — Men: Austin Aces vs Dallas Dream (YouTube)
Saturday, August 8 (ET)
- 7:00 PM — Women: Dallas Dream vs San Diego Smash (YouTube)
- 8:00 PM — Women: Austin Aces vs LA Launch (CW)
- 9:00 PM — Men: Austin Aces vs LA Launch (CW)
- 10:00 PM — Men: Dallas Dream vs San Diego Smash (YouTube)
All YouTube matches stream on the AVP YouTube Channel.
Event Details
The 2026 AVP Dallas event runs Friday and Saturday night, August 7-8 at Comerica Center in Dallas, TX. Doors open at 5:00 PM CT both nights. Play runs from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM CT. For full event details, visit the event page. Get your tickets here.
AVP members get 10% off all event tickets, 25% off AVP merch, and 30% off Wilson volleyballs. Join at members.avp.com.
Four teams under the lights. Two playoff spots still open. The regular season ends where the last questions get answered.
Follow the race to the playoffs at avp.com/league.