Taylor Crabb puts an end to brother’s dominance at Manhattan Beach Open
The fourth-seeded Taylor Sander and Taylor Crabb stop top-seeded Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, denying Crabb's bid for a fourth consecutive MBO title, 27-25, 21-16
Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander celebrate after defeating Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Sander celebrates with Taylor Crabb and as they defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Trevor Crabb digs for the ball as he and Theo Brunner lose to Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Trevor Crabb digs for the ball as he and Theo Brunner lose to Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner lose to Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb hits the ball past Theo Brunner’s block in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Trevor Crabb digs for the ball as he and Theo Brunner lose to Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb is blocked by Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb hits the ball past Theo Brunner’s block in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Trevor Crabb digs for the ball as he and Theo Brunner lose to Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Manhattan Beach mayor Richard Montgomery and council member Joe Franklin congratulate Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander for winning the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb hits the ball past Theo Brunner’s block in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Trevor Crabb digs for the ball as he and Theo Brunner lose to Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb digs for the ball as he and Taylor Sander defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Trevor Crabb digs for the ball as he and Theo Brunner lose to Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Taylor Crabb digs for the ball as he and Taylor Sander defeat Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open men’s final on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Beach volleyball fans keep dry as they watch the men’s semifinals at the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Beach volleyball fans keep dry as they watch the men’s semifinals at the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
MANHATTAN BEACH — Trevor Crabb and Taylor Crabb faced each other for the 23rd time on the AVP Tour on Sunday morning and although Trevor still has more wins over his brother, Taylor’s Manhattan Beach Open title came at an opportune time.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything more than to play him in the finals and to stop his (bid for a) four-peat,” Taylor said.
Trevor won the last three Manhattan Beach Open titles and was the top seed, along with partner Theo Brunner, heading into the tournament. Fourth-seeded Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander stopped his championship run and made history in the process. The two are the first blood relatives to be immortalized on the Manhattan Beach Pier Walk of Fame.
“We’ve got four plaques in the house now,” Taylor Crabb said. “It’s awesome. I’ve been here for every single one of his wins and I was stoked for him every time he won and I’m sure we’re gonna celebrate together tonight.”
The brothers have played each other 27 times now as professionals. Trevor has won 15 times and after winning in two sets (27-25, 21-16) on Sunday, Taylor is up to 12.
Brunner and Trevor Crabb got out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, but in the end, both sides forced multiple set-point situations, the final of which came on a Taylor Crabb kill. A hit by Trevor Crabb went long and out of bounds, giving the two Taylors a 27-25 win in the first set.
Taylor Crabb and Sander gained an early lead in the second set and held onto it. Sander tapped the ball over the net to center court to wrap up the match.
Brunner and Trevor Crabb and Sander and Taylor Crabb had played against each other just the day before, with Brunner and Crabb winning in three sets (21-17, 16-21, 23-21) to send Sander and Crabb to the contender’s bracket.
They had fought their way back into the winner’s bracket only to face a new challenge: the weather. Rain had started to drizzle in the morning and had worked its way to a light shower by the time the men’s final started.
The Manhattan Beach Open had a schedule change in preparation for the weather. Extra matches were held for as long as daylight lasted on Saturday and matches were moved up in the day on Sunday. The men’s final started around 9:30 a.m.
It was the first time weather had forced schedule changes to an AVP Tour event since September 2013 in St. Petersburg, Florida. At that event, wind and rain had picked up after the semifinals, forcing the men to play their championship match two weeks later in Santa Barbara. The women decided not to finish play and split the prize money with each team finishing in second place.
Taylor Crabb said Sunday’s rain in Manhattan Beach wasn’t a distraction.
“We’ve played a lot in conditions like this,” he said. “We’re just grinding all weekend. We played in the dark last night. It doesn’t matter. It’s what we love to do and no matter what. The weather, it’s actually beautiful.”
It was Sander’s first Gold Series title after switching over to beach volleyball from indoor volleyball, a sport in which he won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
“I’ve known him since we were like 14 years old,” Taylor Crabb said. “When he told me he was done with indoor, I was like, let’s do it on the beach.”
Sander won a Manhattan Beach Open championship early into his career with Crabb, whose AVP rookie season was in 2015, alongside him. But his mission all along was to get Crabb a plaque on the same pier that his brother appears on.
“He’s up there where he belongs,” Sander said. “And we’re up there together now. I respect him so much and to do it together and to just ball out in the finals, it takes a lot. It’s a lot of pressure and you deal with a lot of pressure. It’s hard to prove them doubters wrong.”
