ANAHEIM — The New York Nitro secured a share of first place in the AVP league after splitting its matches on Sunday. Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes bounced back from a loss on Saturday to beat the Austin Aces’ female pairing.
The Aces men, though, came through with a three-set victory over the Nitro to retain a one-game advantage over the San Diego Smash for the final spot in the Championship.
The Smash were in last place heading into Weekend 7 at the Honda Center, but went 3-1 — their only loss coming in three sets to the Palm Beach Passion women — to keep their postseason hopes alive.
The fight for fourth place between the Smash, Aces and LA Launch will be decided next weekend in Dallas.
Match 1: San Diego Smash vs. Palm Beach Passion (Women)
The Smash built a 14-10 lead in the third set, but dropped four consecutive match points. Melissa Humana-Paredes’s kill tied the score at 14, forcing a win-by-two scenario.
“I think Melissa just made a decision that she was going to take over that game,” Brandie Wilkerson, Paredes’s teammate, said.
That may be true, but it was Wilkerson’s words that gave Paredes the confidence to come through with another kill to set up their own match point.
Just before they went on that run, Paredes looked at Wilkerson and said, “Nothing is working, what do we do?”
“Just ball out,” Wilkerson replied, smoothly.
The next shot from Wilkerson decided the outcome as they beat the Smash (15-10, 12-15, 16-14).
Match 2: San Diego Smash vs. Palm Beach Passion (Men)
Chase Budinger and Miles Evans stayed focused throughout the longest set of the season, outlasting the Palm Beach Passion men 21-19 in the first frame. Tied at 19, Budinger’s shot nestled into the left side of the court. He, then, produced an ace on a soft serve that died in front of Phil Dalhausser’s feet.
The second set wasn’t nearly as long as the Smash jumped out to a 9-3 lead. They held set point at 14-8, when Dalhausser met Budinger at the net,…
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