by Paul Teetor
Phil Dalhausser and his partner, Trevor Crabb, were cruising through their Sunday morning semi-final at the Manhattan Beach Open when things suddenly started to go south in the second set.
Balls that Dalhausser had crushed for kill shots in the first set were now just missing the lines and landing out of bounds; rocket serves that had overwhelmed the other team in the first set were sailing long; and the flow of monster blocks that the 6-foot-9, 45-year-old beach volleyball superstar had produced in the first set suddenly dried up.
Then, near the end of the second set, a little kid no more than eight or nine years old, a kid with a mane of long blond hair who was sporting surf shorts and a Monster Block T-shirt, started yelling “You got this, Phil” every time the lanky Dalhausser stepped up to serve.
It wasn’t enough support to save the second set for Dalhausser and Crabb — they lost it 21-13 — but in the third set it proved to be the difference when it mattered most.
The kid was right next to the stadium court, ground level, and after a while nearby spectators couldn’t miss hearing that the most ardent fan in the packed stadium was squarely on Dalhausser’s side. The kid mirrored the feelings of most of the more than 5,000 fans in the house, who desperately wanted to see the living legend win his eighth Manhattan Beach Open and get yet another plaque with his name on it permanently embedded in the pier.
So on they went to play a winner-take-all third set, which is only played to 15 points, win by 2, rather than the first to 21, win by 2 points format of the first two sets. Now, with the little kid cheering him as loudly as he could on every single point, both sides played the best, most dramatic set of the entire final day of the tournament.
Matched up against Trevor Crabb’s brother Taylor Crabb – the brothers were playing against each other for a record 32nd time on the AVP tour – and his partner Taylor Sandor, both teams came out firing spikes and kill shots that kept the third set dead even all the way to 12-12.
On the next point, Taylor Sandor served right down the middle, playing it safe and taking no chances on an out serve. But Dalhausser and Trevor Crabb mis-communicated on who should take the serve as Crabb shanked the return with a late stab attempt.
That put Taylor and Taylor – the two Taylors, as they’re known on the tour — up 13-12 and needing just two points to win and advance to the Men’s Final later Sunday afternoon. With the entire packed house standing and cheering, the Two Taylors held serve to lead 14-13 and had a match point.
But with the little kid cheering from only a few feet away Dalhausser leaped toward the sky as only he can for consecutive monster blocks that completely grabbed the momentum away from the two Taylors and gave Dalhausser and Crabb a match point at 15-14.
Now the sound was so loud that you couldn’t hear the little kid, but still you knew he was there – and so did Dalhausser. He unleashed an unreturnable serve that Taylor Crabb tried for, but just couldn’t dig out and suddenly, miraculously Dalhausser and Crabb had a most unlikely win and a ticket to the Sunday afternoon final.
Unfortunately, the 45-year-old man would have less than two hours to recover after playing a grueling three-setter before he would have to play another sure-to-be-tough match under a broiling sun. He would be going up against two much younger opponents, former NBA player Chase Budinger – the best pure athlete on the AVP tour – and his partner, hard-hitting veteran Miles Evans.
When they came out on the stadium court you could see that Dalhausser was a step slow and moving gingerly while Budinger – who’s been trying to win his first Manhattan Beach Open for eight years, ever since he switched sports – was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet with anticipation and plenty of energy. Evans, who had been trying to win his first MBO for 11 years was, if anything, was even more pumped up than Budinger, a Hermosa resident who understands the importance of the tournament nicknamed “the Wimbledon of beach volleyball. “
Dalhausser/Crabb fell behind 3-0 in the first set and spent the rest of the set playing catch up. Late in the set they pulled within 18-17 on a crushing kill shot by Dalhausser, but in the end the much-younger Budinger and Evans had the greater energy and prevailed 21-19.
Already down a set and playing under a relentless sun that made the center-court sand feel like hot coals, things suddenly got exponentially worse as Dalhausser dove for a smash, failed to dig it out and in the process banged up his right shoulder.
They quickly took a timeout and soon the call went out for medical help. They were given a five-minute medical time out while AVP medical support staff worked on Dalhausser. It soon stretched out to 10, 11, 12 minutes before Dalhausser and Crabb finally came back on the court to resume play.
But as soon as play started, the disappointed crowd of more than 5,000 spectators could see that it was not Dalhausser’s day and before long it was all over as Budinger and Evans won the second set by 21-16.
“I just couldn’t get any oomph on the ball,” Dalhausser said. “At that point, I was so fatigued that there’s nothing much you can do. It would’ve been nice to go out with a W, but those guys played great. It’s tough to score points against them if you don’t get them in passing trouble.”
Prior to the tournament Dalhausser had announced that he was leaving the tour after this year, but in an exclusive interview with the Easy Reader he said he was no longer sure this was it for him.
“If I can keep winning and making it to the finals, I may stay for another year or two,” he said. “I’ve got to think long and hard about it.”
For their part, Budinger and Evans said winning the MBO was a dream come true.
“I always tried to envision how it would end,” said Evans, who was playing in his first Manhattan Beach final after 11 years on the AVP tour. “It’s always different, but it’s such a good feeling. I’m so happy that Chase and I played good volleyball this weekend and, hopefully, this is the beginning of great things for us.”
Budinger played seven seasons in the NBA and teamed with Evans at the 2024 Olympics in France, but he also felt there was something missing until Sunday. He had reached the Manhattan Beach final twice before, but lost both times to teams anchored by Trevor Crabb, who had won four of the last five Manhattan Beach titles with three different partners.
“When I switched to beach volleyball, this is something that was one of my goals, to get my name on the pier,” Budinger said. “It took me eight years, but I’m finally here. I’ll be on the pier forever, and it’s something I can show my kids.”
In the women’s bracket, top-seeded Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher became the first women’s team to defend their Manhattan Beach title since 2017. They rallied to beat second-seeded Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft in three sets.
Cannon and Kraft, who both played at USC, won the first set 21-15 and had leads of 17-14 and 18-16 in the second set, but Nuss and Brasher scored the final five points.
Cannon and Kraft then took a 13-12 lead in the third set, but again Nuss and Brasher scored the final three points.
“When you see us play our best, it’s when our backs are against the wall,” Nuss said. “We just look at each other and we trust that our volleyball will show out.”
contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com
