source: AVP Beach Volleyball

According to AVP Beach Volleyball, the 2026 AVP League Championship concluded Sunday at a sold-out Oak Street Beach in Chicago, with Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz claiming the women's title and Trevor Crabb and Phil Dalhausser defending the men's crown.

Both finals went two sets, and both were decisive.

Brasher and Cruz defeated Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson 15-10, 15-12 to seal a season unlike any other in the women's game.

The pair had already won three consecutive titles at the Manhattan Beach Open without dropping a match, then secured the No. 2 League seed on the final weekend of the regular season in Dallas.

AVP League COO and Commissioner Robert Covino told WGN TV that Brasher and Cruz entered championship weekend ranked No. 1 in the world.

How Austin Neutralized Palm Beach's Net Game

The tactical key in the women's final was block suppression.

Wilkerson ranked first in the League in blocks per set during the regular season, but she was held to a single block across the entire match, roughly half her normal rate, while being forced into 24 attack attempts.

With Wilkerson's net presence neutralized, the match became a transition contest.

Cruz posted 20 digs in two sets, 10 per set, nearly double her League-season rate. Brasher hit.565 with 15 kills, above her own League-leading regular-season mark of.529. Humana-Paredes had no viable path to the title once the block battle was lost.

Dalhausser and Crabb Win a Second Straight Double

Crabb and Dalhausser beat Chaim Schalk and James Shaw 15-10, 15-11 in the men's final, completing back-to-back League Championships in the same season they also defended their AVP Cup title.

Phil Dalhausser, 46, accomplished this weeks after a calf strain ended his Manhattan Beach Open run early.

The numbers were exceptional when it counted. Trevor Crabb hit.750 with 9 kills and zero errors, compared to his.468 regular-season mark. Dalhausser recorded 6 blocks in two sets, more than double his League-leading seasonal pace.

Shaw, who led the entire League at.542 hitting percentage during the regular season, was held to 2 kills and finished with negative hitting.

Schalk fought back with 13 kills on 24 attacks, but it was not enough against a Palm Beach team that won the AVP Cup by a single match point and the League title in straight sets.

Saturday's Biggest Upset Set the Bracket

The path to Sunday's final ran through a Saturday semifinal that no bracket predicted. Schalk and Shaw, the No. 4 seed, eliminated Andy Benesh and Taylor Crabb, the 7-1 top seed and reigning Manhattan Beach champions, 17-15, 15-13.

Taylor Crabb was held to a.188 hitting percentage, more than 300 points below his seasonal average, while Schalk hit.455 on 22 attacks with one error. Four total points separated the two sides across the match.

New York Nitro's trajectory over the full season deserves its own note. The team went 1-5 in July, locked a playoff berth by August, and reached the League championship match in September.