AVP Gold Series Champions: Crabb/Gibb Win AVP Chicago, $25K

AVP Gold Series – The Championships in Chicago

• Oak Street Beach; Chicago, Illinois
• Aug. 30 – Sept. 2, 2018
• Qualifier Bracket
• Main Draw Bracket
• Preview

The men fought hard to reach the title match with both semifinal matches going to tiebreak. In the end, it was No. 2 seed Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb that won the AVP Chicago gold, going 5-1 in the tournament, including a contender’s bracket victory on Saturday. With the win, the pair have qualified for the AVP Hawaii Invitational, Sept. 14-16.

Once in the championship match, Crabb/Gibb put their names on the $25,000 winner’s check with a 21-14, 21-17 win over No. 9 Tim Bomgren/Chaim Schalk. The gold medal marked the duo’s first since winning AVP Seattle (June 24), while the finals appearance was their fourth of the year.

Crabb turned in 14 kills at a .600 clip (14-2-20) and added 12 digs, while Gibb tacked on 13 kills (.500 hitting) and seven stuffs.

Bomgren hit at a .409 clip with 12 kills and two digs for the runners up, while Schalk notched 13 kills and five digs in the loss. The pair was awarded $17,750 for their second place efforts.

The two third-place finishers received $10,500 per team.

In the semifinals, Crabb/Gibb rallied for a 25-27, 22-20, 15-5 win over No. 4 Ed Ratledge/Roberto Rodriguez.

Crabb downed 29 kills, while making just four errors in 40 swings (.625 efficiency) and adding 10 digs. Gibb came through with 14 kills (.522 hitting), three blocks and two aces.

Ratledge notched 25 kills and four blocks, while hitting at a .564 clip (25-3-39). Rodriguez turned in an 18-kill, 10 dig double-double while hitting .324 (18-7-34). The pair was plagued by eight service errors, six by Ratledge.

In the second semifinal, Bomgren/Schalk continued their best run of the season since a third-place finish at AVP San Francisco (July 8), hanging on for a 21-17, 19-21, 15-12 win over No. 3 seed Jeremy Casebeer/Reid Priddy.

Schalk was in prime form, following a .741 hitting effort and a 21-kill, 12-dig double-double in the final contender’s match, hitting .543 with his second straight double-double (22 kills, 12 digs). Bomgren supplied 11 kills and seven blocks in the victory.

Casebeer/Priddy, who registered their fourth third-place AVP finish of the year, committed eight service errors and 14 hitting errors in the loss. Priddy posted a team-high 24 kills, while hitting .415, while Casebeer added 14 putaways, four blocks and four digs.