What began as an NCAA Beach display of strength at AVP Palm Beach ended with one as well, with USC’s Kennedy Coakley and Ashley Pater winning without dropping a single set. Coakley and Pater won six straight matches on the weekend, sweeping Florida State alum Maddie Anderson and Brook Bauer in the finals, 21-19, 23-21.
They’ll split $9,750 with the win, while Anderson and Bauer will take home a $5,250 split.
Along the way, Coakley and Pater took out both past and current top-flight NCAA players (Piper Ferch and Madison Shields) future college stars (Thais Treumann and USC recruit Sarah Wood), AVP finalists (Megan Rice, Katie Hogan), AVP winners (Kendra Van Zwieten), and borderline superheroes (Aurora Davis). Their win over Bauer and Anderson was arguably their most notable, as Bauer and Anderson have logged a pair of top-10 finishes on the Beach Pro Tour this season, at Challenges in Mexico and China.
Coakley and Pater played the entire 2025 season together on court two at USC, finishing 30-5 and ending on a three-match win streak. While both compete in Southern California now, they’re Florida natives, Coakley a freshman from Lutz, and Pater a sophomore from Bradenton. Together they form the core of a young and talented team returning for a USC program coming off a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle took third, alongside Katie Hogan and Aurora Davis, the aforementioned superhero, who goes by the title of Supermom on all things SANDCAST. Alaina Chacon and Morgan Chacon claimed fifth, as did Carly Kan and Hannah Rooks, Megan Rice and Kendra Van Zwieten, and LSU’s court one pairing of Gabi Bailey and Parker Bracken.
Hagen Smith attacks the block of Theo Brunner during the AVP League Qualifier on April 12, 2025 in Huntington Beach, CA. (Photo by Will Chu)
Theo Brunner, Ryan Wilcox miss on League but win AVP Palm Beach
There is little doubt that Theo Brunner and Ryan Wilcox wished to be one of the four teams playing at the Delray Beach Tennis Center this weekend in the debut weekend of the AVP League rather than on the sands of Pompano Beach for a Contender event. Both attempted to qualify, Brunner with Troy Field, Wilcox with Cody Caldwell, and both narrowly missed.
They still made the most of the weekend.
Like the women’s winners, Brunner and Wilcox won every match in Palm Beach, sweeping surprise finalists Rowdy Lennon and Logan Mister in the finals, 21-18, 18-21, 15-8 to earn a $9,750 paycheck as a team.
It is the second Contender-level win for Wilcox, who also won Virginia Beach with Tri Bourne a year ago. It’s Brunner’s first professional win since last year’s Manhattan Beach Open with Trevor Crabb, where they also won every match they played.
Lennon and Mister took the longest road possible, beginning with Thursday’s qualifier. Thrice throughout the tournament, their matches went three, and twice they prevailed, over Wyatt Harrison and Charlie Siragusa in the first round of playoffs, and Cash Adamsen and Alex Ukkelberg in the second. Their final three-setter, against Brunner and Wilcox in a fun final, was perhaps one set too many in the stifling South Florida heat.
Evan Cory and Caleb Kwekel took third, as did Ian Bicko and Will Rivera. Marcus Carvalhaes and Dave Wieczorek finished fifth at AVP Palm Beach with Tyler Penberthy and JM Plummer, Kevin Coyle and TJ Jurko, and Cash Adamsen and Alex Ukkelberg.
