Taylor Crabb, Jake Gibb and Alix Klineman, April Ross win AVP Huntington titles

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The top seeds prevailed in the first AVP tournament of the season.

While Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb had to come out of the contenders bracket, both they and Alix Klineman and April Ross walked away with gold medals Sunday at AVP Huntington Beach.

Crabb and Gibb beat sixth-seeded Chase Budinger and Casey Patterson in the men’s final 27-25, 21-14, while Klineman and Ross beat the 14th-seeded Canadian pair of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan 18-21, 21-12, 17-15.

Both pairs split $20,000 each of the $100,000 purse.

In the men’s semifinals, Crabb and Gibb ousted eight-seeded Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb 21-14, 18-21, 15-11, while Budinger and Patterson knocked out seventh-seeded Tim Bomgren and Troy Field 21-16, 21-19. The third place was Field’s career-best finish.

The women’s semifinals saw Klineman and Ross beat second-seeded Sara Hughes and Summer Ross 25-23, 18-21, 15-9, while Humana-Paredes and Pavan railed to beat fourth-seeded Emily Day and Betsi Flint 19-21, 21-12, 16-14.