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The L.A. Launch’s Megan Kraft receives a serve during an AVP League match against the San Diego Smash on Friday, July 11, 2025, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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The L.A. Launch’s Megan Kraft receives a serve during an AVP League match against the San Diego Smash on Friday, July 11, 2025, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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INGLEWOOD — The match, tangled in Southern California roots, felt destined for a Hollywood finish.
After splitting the first two sets of Match 1 in Week 5 play of the AVP League, Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon of the L.A. Launch squared off in a winner-take-all third set against the San Diego Smash’s Geena Urango and Devon Newberry at the Intuit Dome.
All four carried familiar sand beneath their feet: Kraft and Cannon starred at USC, Urango was a Trojans program pioneer, and Newberry was making her pro debut fresh out of UCLA.
The match was tense from the outset and even through two sets. Then the Launch – with former Trojan teammates, friends, and family in the stands – found another gear to secure a 15-13, 10-15, 15-8 victory.
At one point, the Launch led the third set 11-6. Still leading 13-8, Cannon sent a serve across the net. The Smash duo waited, ready to mount a final push.
But the ball clipped the tape and died in front of Urango, who in 2007 became the first-ever beach volleyball recruit at USC. The set up a match point for L.A.
Kraft slammed the door, blasting a winner past Newberry to cap a dramatic start to Week 5 of the pro beach volleyball tour’s indoor series.
“(L.A. is) just a phenomenal team,” Newberry said. “They’ll let you think you have it, and then they’ll take it right away from you.”
Still, the rookie made her mark.
Down a set and trailing late in the second, Newberry provided a spark for San Diego. A spike gave the Smash an 11-9 lead. Two blocks extended the lead to 13-9, then Urango fired an ace. One more swing from Newberry sealed the second set victory.
“I felt tentative and nervous at first,” she said. “Geena just kept telling me, ‘Be aggressive. Smile. Have fun.’ After that, I let it rip.”
Not enough to dispel the former Trojans across the net.
“We had to remember who we are,” Cannon said. “Stay aggressive. Stay confident.”
The AVP Tour still has its traditional format tour stops in the region – Huntington Beach hosted in May and Manhattan Beach hosts in mid-August – but the tour is staging the AVP League (which features eight city-based teams, each with a men’s and women’s pair) in a mix of indoor and outdoor venues across the country for a second straight year.
The sparkling new Intuit Dome provides a chance to attract even more fans to the sport, and the hometown Launch provided a proper premiere.
PALM BEACH PASSION VS. MIAMI MAYHEM (Women)
With the theatrics of Match 1 past, the Palm Beach Passion’s 2024 Olympic silver medalists duo made quicker work of Miami.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson handled the Mayhem in straight sets, 15-12, 15-10.
The first frame was tight. Palm Beach held a 13-12 lead before Wilkerson took control. She read a wide spike from former USC standout Kelly Cheng (formerly Claes), abandoned her initial block attempt, and dug it out just in time. Humana-Paredes hammered it home for a 14-12 lead.
From there, the Passion coasted by the South Beach side.
PALM BEACH PASSION VS. MIAMI MAYHEM (Men)
The Palm Beach men made quick work of Miami, sweeping the Mayhem, 15-13, 15-11.
Phil Dalhausser, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist who is set to retire at the end of 2025, saw Miami use a three-point surge to get within 9-8 in the second set before he crushed a spike into the sand and flashed a smug smile.
There would be no comeback today.
On match point, Miami’s James Shaw tried a last-gasp spike and Dalhausser met it like a wall to end the match and give Palm Beach another sweep.
L.A. LAUNCH VS. SAN DIEGO SMASH (Men)
Hagen Smith opened the final match of the night with a spike so fierce he nearly lost his balance on the landing.
Golden hair flying, he roared. The home crowd followed suit, louder than the arena had been all night, in support of the home team.
The teams split two tense sets, 15-11 and 10-15, but L.A. closed strong with the crowd on its side. Smith sealing the decisive set with an ace for a 15-11 win and unleashed another roar that matched the first.
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
5 p.m. – Women: Palm Beach vs. L.A.
6 p.m. – Men: Palm Beach vs. L.A.
7 p.m. – Women: Miami vs. San Diego
8 p.m. – Men: Miami vs. San Diego
Doors open at 4 p.m.
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