Miami Mayhem and AVP Tour wrap action-packed day one at Sephora Arena
· Yahoo Sports
Friday evening, Miami’s most active beach was indoors.
Sephora Arena played host to the Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour, as eight elite pairs showed out for the first day of Week 3 competition, including the Miami Mayhem.
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The men’s teams for the Austin Aces and Mayhem kicked off Friday’s action. The Aces are comprised of 2024 AVP Ambassador Troy Field and three-time collegiate All-American Ryan Wilcox. Miami’s six-time AVP Best Defensive Player, Taylor Crabb, and Paris Olympian Andy Benesh stood on the other side.
The California-Hawaii native duos started even, but the Mayhem came into Friday riding a 3-1 start to their season, and their momentum showed. Benesh dominated at the net, his three blocks and kills leading the Mayhem to a 15-10 victory in set one.
Miami became the first to eight again in set two before the Aces responded. Wilcox put up a match-leading 14-kill, six-dig effort, but it wasn’t enough as the Mayhem eked by with a 17-15 victory on their “home” court.
“It was cool to play in front of the Miami fans,” Benesh said. “It’s a really cool venue.”
In the second contest of the night, the Austin women took the court against Miami to avenge the men’s loss.
2023 World Champion Kelly Cheng and 2025 AVP Best Server Megan Kraft made up the home team for the women. They took on Taryn Brasher and Kristen Nuss Cruz, the duo known well beyond the AVP stage. The two competed together in the Paris Olympics, and their chemistry is undeniable.
In the most thrilling matchup of the night, the long-standing duo refused to quit. Miami got the advantage early, but Brasher slammed one down from the outside to tie the match at 12. Her following ace gave the pair its first lead since 1-0, propelling them to a 16-14 victory in set one.
“The mentality was just to have fun,” Brasher said. “You have to go on anyway, so you might as well just be positive, and then move on.”
Austin threatened the same style comeback in the second, taking a 15-14 lead after clawing back from a four-point deficit, but they ultimately fell 17-15. In a deciding set three, the Mayhem got out to their usual lead, but the Aces fought back once again, reversing the roles and securing a 17-15 win of their own in their first match of the season.
“It’s always nice to get the first one to put it in the books,” Cruz said. “Facing that team, they’re very elite, so we knew it was going to be a battle.”
Brasher’s powerful swings and misdirections complemented Cruz’s smart play. She picked her spots incredibly, securing the third set by dropping the ball short on the left side.
Six-time AVP Champion Betsi Flint and her partner Kylie Deberg took the court for the Dallas Dream in the night’s third matchup against the Palm Beach Passion’s Paris Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson.
After falling behind early, an ace from Humana-Paredes and a block in the middle from Wilkerson gave the pair an 8-7 lead they wouldn’t give up. They scraped by with a 15-13 win in set one despite Dallas’ four-point run with Palm Beach at match point. In a long-running second set, the Dream bounced back, clinching a 19-17 win behind a nine-kill set from Deberg, but the deciding third set went unfinished as Humana-Paredes came down with what appeared to be a lower-body injury. The Dream secured the win due to injury forfeit.
To finish out the night, the Dream’s 2012 Olympian Paul Lotman and 2024 AVP Most Valuable Player Miles Partain took on the Passion’s defending national champions 2025 AVP MVP Trevor Crabb (brother of Taylor Crabb) and Olympic Gold Medalist Phil Dalhausser.
Dalhausser found a worthy opponent in Lotman on the other side of the net. Lotman had massive back-to-back blocks to take an 11-10 lead and lead Dallas to an 18-16 set-one win. However, Palm Beach rebounded to force a third set and clinched it 15-11 despite Partain leading the match in both kills (23) and digs (10).
The AVP Tour is back in action Saturday starting at 5 p.m. ET.