What a difference a year, and a wrinkle in the Olympic qualification system, can make.

A year ago, AVP Austin featured one of the lightest fields of the year. Gone were Theo Brunner and Casey Patterson, Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb, Ryan Doherty and John Hyden, as well as Chaim Schalk.

Gone were Sara Hughes and Kelly Claes, Lane Carico and Lauren Fendrick, Emily Day and Brittany Hochevar, Kim DiCello and Emily Stockman.

What was left in Austin was the world’s most dominant team in Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena and then an eclectic mix of new teams – John Mayer and Jeremy Casebeer, Trevor Crabb and Sean Rosenthal, Maddison McKibbin and Reid Priddy – odd teams – Derek Olson and Curt Toppel, Ty Loomis and Ty Tramblie, Whitney Pavlik and April Ross – and, yes, a local Texan team or two in Amanda Dowdy and Irene Pollock and Troy Schlicker and Francisco Quesada-Paneque.

That was Austin of 2017.

That is not Austin of 2018.

Whereas Austin of 2017, given the number of teams missing, was circled and starred and asterisked and whatever else people do to mark their calendars to signal “WIDE OPEN FIELD,” Austin of 2018 may present the most difficult AVP of the season for the men.

The draw is small, with just 16 teams making it through, and yet only one team, potentially Priddy and Casebeer, might be missing for a four-star event in Brazil. Typically, a four-star event would be an appealing tournament for our internationally-aspiring teams and players, particularly one in Brazil, where beach volleyball is king. But a tweak in the Olympic qualification system, which reduced the number of finishes required in the two seasons leading up to Tokyo 2020, provides more incentive for teams to stay home and not travel as frequently or desperately.

The women, however, present a different story, with five teams – Hughes and Summer Ross, Claes and Hochevar, Day and Betsi Flint, Kelley Larsen and Stockman, Nicole Branagh and Kerri Walsh-Jennings – registered for that same event.

Similar to last year for the men, the women will have a clear favorite in Alix Klineman and April Ross. The men’s field, though, is as difficult as an AVP will get this season.

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