Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner reign supreme with Manhattan Beach Open crown

Manhattan Beach is still Crabb country.

A year after his younger brother claimed AVP Manhattan Beach Open glory, it was Trevor Crabb’s turn to hoist another pier plaque.

Crabb and his partner, Theo Brunner, won Sunday’s final 21-18, 21-18 against U.S. Olympic pair Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, never losing across their six matches as the first seed. Crabb grabbed his fourth Open win in five years and his first with Brunner as his partner.

“They just came back from the Olympics, and obviously we didn’t make it,” Crabb said. “[We] wanted a little redemption, and knew that deep down, we’re still the best team out here on any given day.”

The Crabb brothers met in Sunday morning’s Open semifinal — a rematch of the 2023 final. Taylor Crabb and his partner, Taylor Sander, pushed Trevor Crabb and Brunner to three sets for the first time all weekend. But it was smooth sailing in the final, with the victors grabbing a straight-sets finish to close the tournament.

In the women’s bracket, Olympic redemption was on the table.

Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss failed to medal in Paris for the U.S. alongside Open semifinalists Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes — the first time the country exited medal-less in women’s beach volleyball.

“Talk about a mix of emotions,” Nuss said. “There hasn’t been time to fully think.”

But when it came to the beach Sunday, performance trumped thought.

Down one set, Kloth — using her 6-foot-4 height to her advantage — overpowered Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles with her blocking ability, leading the pair to win 18-21, 21-17, 15-9 in Sunday afternoon’s final.

“Kristen does not let the ball touch the ground, and you can just tell that she has so much hustle in her and so much fight,” Kloth said, praising her partner’s ability to save points after blocks and deflections, “[It] really inspires me, and it makes me want to work even harder.”

The winners of the Open secured spots in the inaugural AVP League, which is set to begin when UCLA hosts the competition in September.

But for now, the champions are basking in the glow of their newfound hardware.

“After coming back from Paris with nothing, I think to be able to come back and now walk away with this, it definitely means … it means a little more,” Nuss said.