2025 AVP Huntington Beach Heritage Preview: Two Final AVP League Spots on the Line

May 3, 2025February 20, 2026 BumpSpike.com andy_benesh, brandie_wilkerson, chaim_schalk, chase_budinger, hailey_harward, julia_scoles, kelly_cheng, kristen_nuss, melissa_humana_paredes, miles_evans, miles_partain, taylor_crabb, taylor_sander, terese_cannon, trevor_crabb

Two Final AVP League Spots on the Line

The AVP Huntington Beach Open Heritage Event is just around the corner, and this year’s competition promises to be an electrifying showcase of professional beach volleyball. Scheduled for May 10-11, this prestigious event is the last opportunity for aspiring teams to claim a coveted spot in the 2025 AVP League. With only two of eight AVP League qualification spots remaining, this event will make or break teams’ seasons.

How Teams Qualify for the AVP League

Automatic Qualifiers (2024 Top-4 Duos)

Men’s: Chase Budinger and Miles Evans, Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander
Women’s: Geena Urango and Toni Rodriguez, Hailey Harward and Kylie Deberg

Wildcard Invites

Taryn Brasher and Kristen Nuss
Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes
Phil Dalhausser and Trevor Crabb

Path to the League: A team’s best two finishes – one of which must be from Huntington Beach – decide the final two leaderboard berths, unless a team wins the Open outright.

The Final Showdown

Format: 16-team single elimination – win four matches and you’re in.

Men’s and Women’s Frontrunners to Qualify:

Men’s: Seain Cook and Brian Miller – two surprise runner-up finishes in April set a high bar
Women’s: Savannah Simo and Abby Van Winkle – consistent leaders who skip Friday’s qualifier
Underdog Twist: Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry, despite sitting second in points, must battle through Friday’s qualifier and then the main draw to keep their bid alive

Men’s Qualification Standings

1st: Cook/Miller – 2nd place finish – 2444 points
T-2nd: Caldwell/Wilcox – 3rd place finish – 2321 points
T-2nd: Drost/Harrison – 3rd place finish – 2321 points
T-4th: Brunner/Field, Bourne/Cory, Bomgren/Lotman, Brewster/Ierna, Basey/Kwekel, Bradford/Hoppe – 5th place finish – 2095 points

Women’s Qualification Standings

T-1st: Simo/Van Winkle – 2nd place finish – 2444 points
T-1st: Newberry/Whitmarsh – 2nd place finish – 2444 points
T-3rd: Cheng/Shaw, Cannon/Kraft – 3rd place finish – 2321 points
T-5th: Hildreth/Kolinske, Hodel/Van Gunst, Jerger/Shields, Anderson/Bauer, Kinna/Loreen – 5th place finish – 2095 points

Breaking the Tie

In the event of a tie, the following tiebreak procedures will be applied in order:

Huntington Beach Finish – Whoever finishes higher at the Huntington Beach Heritage event moves on to the AVP League
Set Ratio at Huntington Beach – If teams bow out in the same round, their set ratio (sets won divided by sets lost) becomes the decider
Point Ratio at Huntington Beach – Total points scored divided by points allowed across all matches
Tiebreak Set to 15 – One winner-take-all set to 15 will be played between the tied teams

Finish Thresholds at a Glance

Frontrunner finishes 2nd or 3rd: Other teams must WIN the Open
Frontrunner finishes 5th: Other teams must reach the SEMIFINALS
Frontrunner finishes 9th: Other teams must reach the QUARTERFINALS

How to Watch and Attend

Tickets: This event is open to the public but STADIUM COURT is ticketed and selling fast!

Live-Stream: Watch every play on Stadium and Court 1 live on BallyLIVE (May 10-11).

Photo credit: avp.com