A Chalky Weekend
Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
Since March ended, so, too did the madness, I suppose. Because once April hit, the AVP League qualifier went full chalk: 1 vs. 2 in the women’s finals, and 1 vs. 2 in the men’s in what I dubbed “The One That Made Sense” in the recap of Saturday’s qualifier. Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft, and Taylor Crabb and Andy Benesh both won, cementing their spots in the 2026 AVP League.
Right now, the League looks like this:
Women
- Kristen Cruz, Taryn Brasher
- Julia Donlin, Lexy Denaburg
- Melissa Humana-Paredes, Brandie Wilkerson
- Betsi Flint, Kylie Deberg
- Kelly Cheng, Megan Kraft
- Winner Qualifier No. 3
- At Large
- At Large
Men
- Phil Dalhausser, Trevor Crabb
- Logan Webber, Hagen Smith
- Miles Partain, Paul Lotman
- Taylor Crabb, Andy Benesh
- Winner Qualifier No. 3
- At Large
- At Large
- At Large
Who makes the AVP League is relevant to this week’s guest: LJ Luciano, who is interested in which team becomes his home Austin Aces squad.
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The week in SANDCAST Studios
This week featured LJ Luciano, the co-founder of ATX Beach in Austin, Texas, and the longest listener we’ve ever had on the pod. No joke: LJ has been with us since DAY ONE. LJ and Tri Bourne talk about the growing, thriving beach volleyball community in Texas, launching new events like the city vs. city series, innovation in the sport, and a whole lot more. Fun one, and a unique one for the pod. Loved it all.
Beyond The Sand, Season 2
Frito is back behind the lens with season 2 of Beyond The Sand. This week, he went into the boxes with Geena Urango and Megan Rice, and Savvy Cory and Devon Newberry at the first AVP League qualifier.
It’s an excellent episode, which you can watch on our YouTube Channel. I won’t link directly to it, because it’ll put this email in your spam.
Episode 2 drops on Thursday, as Frito goes in with Taylor Crabb and Andy Benesh during their victorious run. Can’t wait.
AVP Photo Galleries
We have ALL of the shots from the AVP League qualifiers. Check out the photo galleries from:
Saquarema Elite PICK’EM!
We partnered with AG1 to do pick’ems for Elites and AVP Heritage events this summer! Pick your top four finishers from both the men and the women, and the winner will receive a gift box from AG1!
Here’s how it works: Pick your top four men’s and women’s finishers IN ORDER. Every team you pick correctly is worth ONE POINT, every team you pick in the correct spot is worth FIVE POINTS. The winner will be announced and sent some AG1!
Here’s the link to enter, which is free!
News Around the Beach
- Volleyball for Dummies is officially out! Since June, I’ve been working on a book with our good friend Gabby Reece Volleyball for Dummies. You can now pre-order your copy today over at Barnes and Noble! It has been an absolute blast to write, as it covers both indoor and beach, and I for one am fired up about it. I ain’t too proud to beg, sweet darlin’, for you to pre-order your copy today.
- AVP League Qualifiers continue Saturday. It’s the final qualifier of the series, so pull up a chair and get to Manhattan Beach, which won’t see another tournament until the Grandaddy in August.
- The Beach Pro Tour hits Saquarema. Elites are back in action this week in Brazil. Kristen Cruz and Taryn Brasher, Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft, and Sara Hughes and Ally Batenhorst are all straight into the main draw. Taylor Crabb and Andy Benesh, and Miles Evans and Chase Budinger are in for the men. Most Americans are hanging back for the final AVP qualifier, mentioned above.
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The NCAA Beach Volleyball report, Week 7.
- This weekend belonged to Stanford. The Cardinal went down to Laguna in a fantastic event and handled, beating UCLA, Cal Poly, Long Beach, and USC. Don’t think there’s been a better week by anyone this entire season. Big, big showing from Andrew Fuller and Billy “Coach Your Brains Out” Allen.
- GCU made some moves this weekend as well. The Lopes went 4-0, including three quality wins over Arizona State, FIU, and Stetson. They have quite a ways to go if they want to earn an at-large bid into Gulf Shores, but still: That’s a legit weekend.
- Cal Poly is tracking to be the Land Mine of Gulf Shores. The Mustangs went 1-3 in Laguna, losing three 3-2 matches to UCLA, USC, and Stanford, with opportunities to win all of them. Their one win came against Long Beach, which is their highest-ranked win of the season. If they don’t land a biggie before Gulf Shores, they’ll enter as the best low-seeded team of the bunch, with all the potential of Land Mine of the Year.
- We split a thriller of a double-header with LMU. John Mayer and the Lions came to town and smacked us on day one of our final home event. Then we turned around and won a heartstopping battle on court one, with Alexis Durish and Audrey Koenig pulling out a 21-19 win in the third set to stay undefeated, and add another top-10 win to the ledger for us. Best format in the sport, no doubt.
- A bunch of other stuff happened, and you can find all the scores at CollegeVB.com, who is doing the Lord’s work for the sport.
- Watch SANDCAST Episodes Early! Become a member of our YouTube Channel and you’ll get every piece of content days or weeks before anybody else. You can already watch this week’s April mailbag episode. Next week’s with Geena Urango will be up soon.
- Coming up on Wednesday we have our monthly mailbag episode, in which I talk about what exactly Kent Steffes’ business plan is, who Terese Cannon might play with when she comes back, Wyatt Harrison’s partner outlook, and more.
Much Love to the sponsors
We’ve been with Wilson Volleyball since day one, and we love the products they make — the best ball on the market, hands down, no questions asked. Use our discount code: TRIANDTRAVIS26 for 20 PERCENT OFF.
Watch VBTV for 10 percent off using our discount code, SANDCAST10.
We’ve got SANDCAST merch! Get yourself some swag.
We’re officially partnered with Better at Beach! If you want to get Better at Beach, use our code SANDCAST for 10 percent off all of their products, from online classes to in-person camps and more.
Appreciate y’all for listening, reading, and loving the beach like we do.
Have a great week!
SHOOTS!
SANDCAST Team
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