“High stakes.”

“Intense.”

Such were the descriptors Miles Evans used when describing the trio of 2026 AVP League Qualifiers, the first of which is this weekend in Manhattan Beach.

He’s not wrong.

There are eight spots in the 2026 AVP League. Only three have been earned via 2025 performances for the women: Kristen Cruz and Taryn Brasher, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, and Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg. Two have been earned for the men: Phil Dalhausser and Trevor Crabb, and Logan Webber and Hagen Smith.

For everyone else? Olympians? World Champions? Teams or individuals once or currently ranked in the top 10 or even higher in the world?

In the single elim qualifiers, beginning Saturday at 8 a.m. in Manhattan Beach, like everyone else.

“For fans,” Tri Bourne said, “you have to come down to watch that.”

There will be few events, if any, as cut-throat and intense as the next three Saturday qualifiers. These are top-flight American fields that, for the men, include the 2025 Manhattan Beach Champions in top-seeded Chase Budinger and Miles Evans; fifth-place World Champs finishers Chaim Schalk and James Shaw; longtime veterans in Avery Drost and Tim Bomgren; Olympian and arguably the finest American talent in Miles Partain,  playing again with his former partner Paul Lotman; underseeded Canadians Sam Schachter and Jonny Pickett; and a rapidly rising crop of talents in Cody Caldwell and Wyatt Harrison, Evan Cory and Derek Bradford, Thomas Hurst and Gage Basey.

The women’s field is no lighter. Just ask Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft, the No. 1 seed who will see 2025 World Champion Tina Graudina and former Nebraska standout Lauren Stivrins in the first round. Three matches down the bracket will feature a rematch of the Tlaxcala Challenge bronze medal match: Sara Hughes and Ally Batenhorst against Geena Urango and Megan Rice. Betsi Flint’s return from pregnancy will have her play alongside rising blocker Kylie DeBerg against Macy Jerger and Jaden Whitmarsh, who is coming off the best year of her career. Toni Rodriguez, too, is making her return from a shoulder injury that derailed a promising 2025 season, and she is partnering with Molly Shaw, whose 2025 season alongside Kelly Cheng proved she belongs with the best in the world.

All of that, and there is yet to mention the sneaky six seed in Piper Ferch and Teegan Van Gunst, on the heels of three straight Elite fifth-place finishes, the fiery Savvy Cory and Devon Newberry, Corinne Quiggle and Chloe Loreen coming off a huge 2025.

So, yes, Saturday is a no-brainer for fans.

It’s a simple route into the League, though simplicity, as you can see above, certainly does not equate to ease: Win.

Win four matches on Saturday – or the Saturday after that, or the Saturday after that — and you’re in the League. The other route is to take your two best finishes and hope they are better than 13 other teams in the qualifiers to shore up the final three berths.

“The second you qualify,” Evans said, “it’s 20 grand in your pocket.”

“That,” Bourne added, “is your whole season.”

And you have three cracks at it, beginning Saturday.

How can I follow the AVP League qualifiers?

How can I watch the AVP League qualifiers?

  • Via the AVP’s YouTube Channel. Make sure to also follow Bet The Beach and Beach Volleyball Media, who will be out and about.