Survival Saturday lived up to its name at the third annual Wedbush Presents Hermosa Beach Open.
After a full day of elimination matches and winner’s-bracket battles, the 32-team men’s and women’s fields have each been narrowed to just four teams still standing.
Some punched their tickets to Championship Sunday without taking a loss. Others survived the contender’s bracket, where every match carried the threat of elimination. Now, only eight total teams remain with a chance to leave Hermosa Beach as champions and add their names to the history of one of beach volleyball’s most iconic events.
Here’s how Saturday unfolded.
Men’s Winner’s Bracket
Survival Saturday whittled the men’s winner’s bracket down to two unbeaten teams, with Andy Benesh and Taylor Crabb and Jacob LaBouliere and Miles Partain securing their places on Championship Sunday.
Benesh and Crabb continued their dominant run through Hermosa with a straight-set victory over Troy Field and Ryan Wilcox to open the day. They were tested later Saturday by Gage Basey and Thomas Hurst, but came through in three sets to remain perfect through the main draw.
Basey and Hurst had earned their way into that matchup with a straight-set victory over Wyatt Harrison and James Shaw earlier in the morning.
On the other half of the bracket, rookie Jacob LaBouliere and Paris Olympian Miles Partain continued their run with a three-set victory over Olympic veterans Stefan Boermans and Chaim Schalk. They followed it with a straight-set win over Seain Cook and Leon Luini, who had advanced earlier in the day by defeating Chase Budinger and Trevor Crabb in three sets.
That leaves Benesh/Crabb and LaBouliere/Partain as the final two undefeated men’s teams heading into Championship Sunday.
They will meet at 9:30 AM on Center Court, with the winner advancing directly to the championship match and the loser dropping into one final elimination match for another chance to reach the final.
Men’s Contender’s Bracket
The men’s contender’s bracket turned into a full-day battle for survival, with Chase Budinger and Trevor Crabb and Seain Cook and Leon Luini emerging as the final two teams still alive on the elimination side.
Budinger and Crabb took the long road to Championship Sunday after falling to Cook and Luini in three sets earlier Saturday. Once pushed into the contender’s bracket, the pair responded with three straight victories. They first survived a three-set battle against U.S. Olympian Miles Evans and Italian Olympian Alex Ranghieri, then swept Brewster and Ierna before closing the day with another straight-set win over Gage Basey and Thomas Hurst.
Cook and Luini remained on the winner’s side deep into Saturday before suffering their first loss to Jacob LaBouliere and Miles Partain. They immediately answered in their first elimination match, sweeping Wyatt Harrison and James Shaw to earn another day in Hermosa.
Harrison and Shaw had put together an impressive contender’s run before that loss, eliminating the Bello brothers and then Alejandro Huerta and Charlie Siragusa in straight sets. Huerta and Siragusa had survived two three-set matches earlier in the day against Logan Webber and Hagen Smith and Troy Field and Ryan Wilcox.
On the opposite side, Brewster and Ierna eliminated Tim Bomgren and Avery Drost and Olympic veterans Stefan Boermans and Chaim Schalk before their run ended against Budinger and Crabb.
That sets up a Championship Sunday rematch between Cook/Luini and Budinger/Crabb at 9:30 AM. Cook and Luini won their first meeting Saturday morning, but this time the stakes are even higher: the winner advances, while the loser finishes fourth.
Women’s Winner’s Bracket
Survival Saturday began with eight unbeaten women’s teams, but by the end of the day only two remained perfect: Savvy Cory and Devon Newberry, and Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft.
Cory and Newberry continued their unbeaten run with a straight-set victory over Molly Martin and Hailey Zacca before meeting Brecht Piersma and Molly Shaw later in the afternoon. Piersma and Shaw had opened Saturday by sweeping Kylie DeBerg and Lexy Denaburg, but Cory and Newberry answered with another straight-set victory to earn their place in Sunday’s winner’s-bracket final.
On the other half of the draw, Cheng and Kraft continued their pursuit of the Hermosa title without dropping a set. They first defeated Chloe Loreen and Corinne Quiggle before sweeping Madelyne May Anderson and Alaina Chacon, who had advanced earlier in the day with a straight-set win over Andressa Cavalcanti and Thais Treumann.
That leaves Cory/Newberry and Cheng/Kraft as the final two undefeated women’s teams, setting up a major Championship Sunday matchup at 8:30 AM on Center Court.
The winner will advance directly to the championship match, while the loser will get one more opportunity through the contender’s side of the true double-elimination bracket.
Women’s Contender’s Bracket
The contender’s bracket became a test of endurance on Survival Saturday, and no team embodied that more than Megan Rice and Reka Orsi Toth.
Rice and Orsi Toth entered Saturday with their tournament already on the line and proceeded to win four elimination matches without dropping a set. They opened the morning by defeating Xolani Hodel and Kate Reilly, then swept Kylie DeBerg and Lexy Denaburg, Molly Martin and Hailey Zacca, and Madelyne May Anderson and Alaina Chacon to complete one of the day’s longest runs through the bracket.
Their final victory secured a place in Championship Sunday, where they will meet Brecht Piersma and Molly Shaw at 8:30 AM.
Piersma and Shaw began Saturday on the winner’s side and advanced with a straight-set victory over DeBerg and Denaburg before suffering their first loss of the tournament to Savvy Cory and Devon Newberry. With their backs against the wall, Piersma and Shaw responded later in the afternoon, surviving a three-set battle with Andressa Cavalcanti and Thais Treumann to claim the final spot in Sunday’s four-team field.
Cavalcanti and Treumann put together an impressive contender’s run of their own, eliminating top-seeded Raïsa Schoon and Katja Stam before knocking out Terese Cannon and Betsi Flint. Their run finally ended against Piersma and Shaw in fifth place.
Cannon and Flint reached seventh after victories over qualifier standouts Addison and Avery Junk and Chloe Loreen and Corinne Quiggle, while Martin and Zacca also finished seventh after advancing through the early rounds of Saturday’s contender’s bracket.
That leaves Rice/Orsi Toth and Piersma/Shaw as the final two teams standing on the contender’s side. They meet Sunday at 8:30 AM, with the winner advancing and the loser finishing fourth.
Championship Sunday
The road to a Hermosa Beach Open title now comes down to one final day.
Four men’s teams and four women’s teams remain, with the final stages of the true double-elimination format set to play out on Center Court.
On the women’s side, Savvy Cory/Devon Newberry and Kelly Cheng/Megan Kraft remain unbeaten, while Megan Rice/Reka Orsi Toth and Brecht Piersma/Molly Shaw have survived the contender’s bracket to keep their title hopes alive.
For the men, Andy Benesh/Taylor Crabb and Jacob LaBouliere/Miles Partain enter Sunday without a loss, while Chase Budinger/Trevor Crabb and Seain Cook/Leon Luini remain alive through the contender’s side.
Championship Sunday begins at 8:30 AM, and by the end of the day two teams will stand alone as the 2026 Wedbush Presents Hermosa Beach Open champions.