AVP title goes to Hughes and Cheng

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA — Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes have traveled all over the United States and to plenty of international destinations chasing their dreams as professional beach volleyball players, but very few things are sweeter to them than a victory on home sand. 

Cheng, a Placentia native, and Hughes, from Costa Mesa, rolled through a stacked field at the AVP Pro Series Huntington Beach Open, losing just one set in five matches en route to securing the women’s title. 

Palos Verdes native Andy Benesh and Pacific Palisades-born Miles Partain upset three higher-seeded teams to win the men’s championship. 

Championship Sunday just north of the Huntington Beach pier featured the top five seeds in both the women’s and men’s brackets battling for supremacy, and the action on the courts didn’t disappoint.  

Cheng and Hughes needed three sets to topple fifth-seeded Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil in the women’s semifinals and then dispatched fourth-seeded Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles, 21-18, 21-18 in the final.  

The former USC teammates and two-time national champions have now won all three AVP events they have entered since reuniting last fall, having captured a Tour Series event in November in Huntington Beach and the AVP Pro Series New Orleans Open last month. They have also secured four international victories in the last six months. 

“This is a dream come true winning in Huntington,” Hughes said. “I learned how to play when I was eight years old on a court right there.” 

Hughes now owns seven career AVP titles (including one at all three major Southern California tour stops in Huntington, Hermosa and Manhattan beaches) and Cheng has five on her resume.  

Benesh and Partain, seeded fifth, toppled top-seeded Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk, 20-22, 21-11, 15-12 in the men’s final, capping a dramatic day that saw them battle back through the contenders’ bracket to take the title. 

After falling to Bourne and Schalk in the third round Saturday, Benesh, a former USC indoor star, and Partain, the 21-year-old who starred for UCLA’s indoor team until earlier this year, faced a long road Sunday. They took down Olympic gold medalist Phil Dalhausser and Avery Drost, seeded seventh, in straight sets, then upset second-seeded Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb, 21-16, 14-21, 15-13, in the semis. 

Facing a rematch with Bourne and Schalk and seeking a victory in their first tournament as partners, Benesh and Partain battled the pair of Olympians through three grueling sets. 

“It was great to generate this momentum right here in front of our home crowd,” Partain said. 

Benesh also won last season’s Pro Series Austin Open and a Tour Series event in 2022. Partain’s only other AVP victory came with former partner Paul Lotman at the AVP Gold Series Atlanta Open last season.  

The AVP Pro Series Huntington Beach Open featured 16-team women’s and men’s fields competing in a double-elimination bracket across three courts from Friday through Sunday. The women’s and men’s brackets each consisted of 10 teams automatically entered based on AVP ranking points, two wild cards and four teams who earned entry through Thursday’s open qualifier.  

Following the AVP Pro Series Huntington Beach Open, the AVP and the Surfrider Foundation will partner to host a beach cleanup event Tuesday, May 23 at 9 a.m., with more than 25 people expected to attend to help leave the beach even cleaner than it was before the weekend’s events. 

The 2023 AVP Tour schedule includes 12 tournaments across the country, offering more than $1.5 million in prize money. Four Tour Series events feature 16 or 24-team brackets competing over three days for a $10,000 purse, and four Pro Series events each offer a 16-team draw playing for $125,000 over three days of play.

The three AVP Gold Series tournaments are three-day events with 16- or 32-team brackets and the highest purses of the season at $300,000, and the two-day Championship event invites the top six teams per gender to compete exclusively at the end of the season.