CARSON — The cherry on top of all the innovations the AVP league introduced with its inaugural season was the Golden Set, in which the women’s and men’s duo of a team compete in the same set, the genders switching off when one side reaches eight points. It would only be necessary in a scenario where the women’s and men’s matches in a playoff round were split.

In a league where sets are played to 15, rather than 21, quick starts are important. In the Golden Set, where each duo essentially plays to eight, any lapse is flat-out lethal.

“Its just one point at a time, and thats how you kind of have to approach it,” the San Diego Smash’s Chase Budinger said about his strategy.

The Golden Set wasn’t needed during either semi-final on Saturday, but it determined both the AVP final and the third-place match, which took place on Sunday at Dignity Health Sports Park.

In the final, the San Diego Smash beat the Dallas Dream as the men’s duo carried on the women’s momentum in the Golden Set. In the third-place game, the Miami Mayhem women built on the lead their male counterparts had constructed to beat the New York Nitro.

Championship game: San Diego Smash vs. Dallas Dream

Women’s match

Geena Urango and Toni Rodriguez chose precision over power, placing ball after ball in the Dallas Dream’s left corner, just out of Hailey Harward’s reach. They won the women’s leg of the AVP finals in straight sets, taking each frame 15-9.

“I think going to that spot was just all part of the strategy that we saw on video, and it paid off,” Rodriguez said.

In the second set, with the Smash leading 10-6, Harward and Rodriguez met at the net, getting their palms to the ball almost simultaneously, before it flew out on the Smash’s side. Harward celebrated, feeling as if Rodriguez got the final touch, but the official gave the Smash the point. The controversy briefly motivated Harward as her kill won the next point.

But then the Smash locked back in, Rodriguez faking a spike and placing her shot over Harward’s head to make it 13-8. She then passed it to Urango for a kill, before Urango placed another shot just inside the left boundary for match point.

Men’s match

The men’s match between the San Diego Smash and Dallas Dream featured the two teams that represented Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The Dream duo of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh needed to win to force a Golden Set.

They won the first set 15-12 and the second set 15-11, each frame ending with Budinger hitting the ball out of bounds. The Dream’s straight-set victory kept their team’s hopes alive.

Golden Set

Rodriguez was ecstatic when the Dream elected the women to start the Golden Set as she felt she and Geena Urango had played the Dream’s women “aggressively.” The pair backed that excitement by jumping out to an 8-5 lead as Rodriguez won at the net against Kylie Deberg just before the break.

That 3-point cushion was crucial as the Dream’s men had the Smash’s men’s number. They cut that deficit to one before Budinger bumped the ball over Benesh and then blocked his attempt at the net. The Smash extended their lead to 13-9 after Evans scooped a pass from Budinger over the reach of Banesh.

It took three match points to finish off the Dream as Partain’s left-handed spikes brought them back. But Budinger beat Benesh at the net again to win the championship, afterward, dishing all the praise to his female counterparts who provided a cushion.

“It wasnt our day, but it was their day,” he said about Urango and Rodriguez. “They played really well today, and they really helped us win this.”

Third-place game: New York Nitro vs. Miami Mayhem

Men’s match

It was all fun and games in the battle of the Crabb brothers (the Nitro’s, Taylor, and the Mayhem’s, Trevor). Taylor flexed at Trevor after a block in the first set. Trevor shook his head right back after digging Taylor’s sky-ball serve to set up his teammate, Theo Bruner for a kill.

“Its always a battle going against each other,” Trevor said. “We know each other so well, and were usually going to three sets.”

Sunday’s family feud did in fact go three sets and, as the match prolonged, the trash talk subsided with each team locking in. They had to remain especially hyper-focused in that third set, which was the highest scoring and thus longest set of the AVP season. The Mayhem pulled it out 29-27.

The Mayhem jumped out to an 8-3 lead in that third set as Bruner continuously used Taylor Sander’s overzealous block to his advantage, hitting it off his opponent’s outside hand.

“Theos one of the best blockers we have,” Trevor Crabb said.

The Nitro, however, stormed back. An ace from Sander knotted the set at 14. The teams traded points and, with the score sitting at 28-27, Bruner won another battle at the net.

Women’s match

The Nitro women beat the Mayhem women in straight sets. They took a 14-10 lead in the second set, but the Mayhem fended off three match points. Then Sara Hughes bumped the ball over April Ross’s block attempt to win the match.

The result led to a Golden Set (the first of the AVP season as the third-place game took place before the final).

Golden Set for third place game

The men went first, and at the break, the Mayhem led 8-7.

It made way for Ross and Alix Klineman, who were both honored on Saturday, to go out on a high note. Klineman blocked Hughes at the net to make it 12-9. She tapped the ball over Hughes two points later. Then a long-winded rally ended with Cheng’s shot dying at the net, giving the Mayhem the win.

After losing to the Nitro’s women in straight sets just minutes before the Golden Set, Ross and Klineman regrouped, relying on their traits as “learners,” as Ross put it, to adjust and come through when it mattered most.

“It felt so good, better than I think I was expecting,” Ross said. “To win against such a great team and have it not be super lopsided. When we took over the golden set, we had to still earn it. It feels significant that we were able to win, though, so Im really happy.”