5th Annual AVP Denver Open

The Island Beach Volleyball Facility

2233 S Geneva Street, Denver CO

July 3-5, 2026 

The AVP is back this summer and Colorado Beach Volleyball fans will once again get to enjoy Pro Beach Volleyball at the highest domestic level.  Volleyball of the Rockies (VOTR) and the Island Beach Volleyball Facility are excited to once again host the $60K Denver Open over 4th of July weekend.  Get ready for another amazing weekend of competition with some of the best players on the planet along with our favorite local athletes.   Here is everything you need to know if you want to make the most of the weekend.   

 The Schedule:  

  • Tuesday, June 30th
    • Beach Nation Player Clinic (link)

    • Coaches will be:

      Beth VanFleet, Georgia State Head Coach

      Collin Wilson, Cal Poly Asst. Coach

      David Skapf - Colorado Mesa Head Coach

  • Wednesday, July 1st
    • AVP Juniors Mountain Championships (link)
    • Pool Play
  • Thursday, July 2nd
    • AVP Juniors Mountain Championships (link)
    • Playoff and Finals
  • Friday, July 3rd
    • Qualifier 9am - 5pm (link)
    • Top 8 for each gender advance to Saturday Main Draw 
    • 35 Colorado Athletes competing
    • Free Entry at venue
  • Saturday, July 4th:
    • Main Draw, 8am – 5pm
    • Colorado Players: Pyles, Sokolowski, Del Sol, Basey, Basey, Carlson
    • 24 Team Modified Pool Play to Bracket (link)
    • $10 Entry Fee
  • Sunday, July 5th:       
    • Quarter Finals @ 9am, 10am (link)
    • Semi Finals @ 11 am, 12 am  
    • Finals @ 1pm, 2pm 
    • $10 entry fee

All times tentative and subject to change

The Skinny:  The 2026 AVP Season include "The League" for the top 8 teams per gender, three  "Major" Tournaments Manhattan Beach Open ($300K), Huntington Beach Open ($150K) and Laguna Open (tbd)  and two "Major" Contender Events: Denver ($60K), Waupaca ($60K).  They have also rebranded their AVP Next events as $20K Contender Events in Austin, South Florida, Virginia Beach, Aspen, Midwest, and Santa Barbara ($60K from Promoter, thanks Jordan).  Athletes at the $60K AVP Denver Open will be competing for prize money, points, pride and 2 auto berths in the Manhattan Beach Open in August. Punching a ticket to MBO with a Denver win is HUGE. League players can only compete in the Denver Open with a non-League player so look for some interesting pairings. Don't miss the AVP action.  You can check our their full calendar here: AVP Schedule

The History:  The first Denver Open was in 2022.  Andy Benesh and Miles Evans won the event and 3 years later represented the USA at the Paris Olympics.  Three time Olympians Larissa and Lilliane Maestrini  and Allison Cerutti graced the Island Championship Court.  2024 AVP League Champion Geena Urango won the 2025 event with Stanford Freshman Avery Jackson.  Savvy Cory won in 2024 and is missing this years' event because she is now ranked 10th in the world and is competing in Gstaad with Devin Newberry, who took 3rd in Denver the same year.  Each year, the Denver Open brings something special.  The Epic 19-17 in the 3rd Basey/Basey Match against Casebeer and Alviro on court 7 in 2023 en route to a 3rd place finish. Dalhauser playing Jeff Houghton and Trent Sellers in 2022.  This year, Evan Cory will attempt to surpass Alison, and get his 3rd Denver Win and Gage and Lars Basey will try to stop them.    And the women's draw is stacked with athletes groomed in the college beach system and working into the to tiers of the sport.   Enjoy an amazing weekend. 

           2022     Mens:  Andy Benesh / Miles Evans         Womens:  Larissa Maestrini / Liliane Maestrini

           2023     Mens:  Billy Allen / Alison Cerutti           Womens:  Hailey Harward / Kelley Kolinske

          2024      Mens:   Evan Cory / Alison Ceruti           Womens:   Savvy Cory / Abby Van Winke

          2025      Mens:   Evan Cory / Troy Field                Womens:    Avery Jackson / Geena Urango

The Friday Qualifier: The top 8 teams from Fridays qualifier will join the top 16 teams in the Main Draw to round out a 24 team field.   Come cheer on all Colorado's best as over 30 of our local players compete against top teams from all around the county for a shot at the main draw.   Multiple Colorado Teams will be competing Friday against the best in the nation hoping to crack in to Saturdays Main Draw. The Men's side has __ local players and the ladies side has over __, so there are plenty of Colorado Players to cheer for.    

The Friday Night Dinner:   Volleyball Of The Rockies (VOTR) and The Island traditionally hosted a Friday Night Buffett dinner compliments of US Foods the first four years, but not all the players attended and we hated wasting salmon and steak.  It makes sense, the advancing teams were in rest, recover get ready for tomorrow mode, and the eliminated players did not always stick around or want to come back.  So we made a pivot in 2026 and decided to provide all participants in the Friday Qualifier with food vouchers so they still get a meal "on us", but they can fit it more comfortably into their Friday Flow!  

The Main Draw: 24 teams per gender will compete in the Main Draw Saturday and Sunday including 16 auto-seeds and 8 teams from the Friday Qualifier. Come out and cheer on our Colorado teams and watch your favorite pros.  Competition will begin with modified 4 team pool play advancing the top 3 teams into a single elimination bracket later in the day.  The top teams will advance to Sundays play.  If you can't attend in person, the entire event will be live streamed.  

Colorado Connections: Beach Bash Doubles is a qualifier for this event, placing one Colorado team per gender in the Denver Open Main Draw.  Congratulations to our local main draw athletes:   Gage Basey, Lars Basey, Katie Pyles, Lena Sokolowski, Skylar Del Sol,  Jayden Pascua.  Over thirty additional Colorado athletes are competing in the 2026 Friday Qualfier.  Come cheer them on and hopefully we see some locals advance to Saturday. 

The AVP Pros:   Once again, some of the biggest names in Volleyball will be on the sand at the Island for the Denver Open as well as a field full of future stars.  This years draw includes Olympian Paul Lotman, defending champions Evan Cory and  Stanford's Avery Jackson, Avery Drost, Theo Brunner, Seain Cook, Wyatt Harrison, Derek Bradford, Devanne Sours, and Marine Kinna.  Motherlode Icon Jeff Samuels and Dexter Campbell are flying in after at top 9 finish at the FIVB Geneva Futures.  In the last 3 weeks UCLA National Champion Lindsey Sparks and Torry Van Winden podiumed with Silver at FIVB Futures Spiez and Gold at the FIVB Geneva Futures.  And Ironman Adam Roberts will be in the sand for his 273rd pro tournament with his 288th partner as his storied career continues (click the link, and soak in the list)

Live Streams:   Nathan Hicks of @BeachVolleyballMedia will be live streaming the Denver Open this year, covering all eight courts throughout the event.  Nathan has been producing multi-court beach volleyball streams as AVP events for eh past few years, most recently covering the AVP League Qualifiers in Manhattan Beach.  Fans can follow the action live all weekend.   Links are below. 

Beach Paravolley (BPV) is the second adaptive volleyball sport supported by World ParaVolley (WPV). BPV is exciting, dynamic, discipline that offers players of all ability/disability types to participate in beach volleyball. Because it uses identical equipment and rules as to traditional doubles beach volleyball, BPV is widely accessible across the globe and offers adaptive athletes a unique opportunity to connect with other athletes and their communities. Collaborating with VOTR’s APV event provides BPV athletes with an excellent opportunity to showcase their skills and demonstrate the discipline’s potential while simultaneously gaining more experience playing under international rules. Additionally having BPV players present will hopefully raise the overall visibility/knowledge of discipline such that more players can be recruited and/or inspire more events to host BPV divisions. Para will play on the indoor courts Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

The Links, How to Follow Online: You can follow all your friends online at the Denver open on VolleyballLife or BVBInfo. The Qualifier Brackets will be up by Thursday, and the Main Draw brackets post sometime Friday night. And there will be live streams all weekend.  Here are links to drop you in:   

      AVP Juniors Mountain Championships:  Click Here

      AVP Denver Open Main Page: Click Here

      Men’s Qualification Bracket: link will be here once bracket is set

      Women’s Qualification Bracket: link will be here once bracket is set

      Men's Main Draw:  Link goes live on Saturday

      Women's Main Draw: Link goes live on Saturday

      Free Live Feed of all courts:  2026 AVP Denver Open Live Feeds


Event Cost:  Friday is Free! There will be a $10 entry fee on Saturday and Sunday.  VOTR donates $10,000 of the gate to Volley4Charity. Volley4Charity has raised over $500,000 since Gary Patton and Sherri Frazer started the event in 2001.  Cash will be appreciated and keep the check-in line moving!   The V4C staff manages the front door so feel free to ask them about all the good stuff the charity does.   Volley4Charity

Volunteer with AVP: The AVP needs score keepers, runners, etc. You can sign up to volunteer HERE and get courtside seats for the action!  

Volunteer with Volley4Charity: Click here to volunteer at the door for AVP Denver and help the Volley4Charity staff.

Parking: Island Main Lot is FREE if you carpool with 4+ and it is $20 if you are solo or a big spender (until full). VIP Tent Peeps will get a couple spots per tent. On Street parking is also available. Please respect our neighbor's private lots so you are not towed. Better yet, Uber/Lyft and enjoy the day with no worries.  

Chairs and Tents. Seating is limited so please feel free to bring a camping chair or beach chair and perhaps an umbrella for shade.  Please do not bring a tent, there will not be room to put it up and the Island has shade around most of the courts.  Umbrellas will have to disappear once they impact the viewing of others, i.e. semi's and finals.  

VIP Seating (shade):  VIP Tents are available a adjacent center court for Saturday and Sunday action! If you are interested in a Private VIP Tent, call us at the Island.  303 745-2255. VIP includes up close parking, breakfast, lunch, cocktails, water, gatorade, courtside tents, schwaag, and 8 of the best seats in the house.  

SOB Volleyball Vacations Guests: The Island will once again have a special section for alumni from one of our 72+ Trips.  You will need to be 1) and alumni and 2) wearing an SOB Shirt to sit in this area.  We will have chairs and waters for you all.   

Food and Beverage: No outside Food, beverage, ice chests, etc are allowed at the venue.  Full concessions are available. Water stations will be available if you bring an empty water bottle. 

The Island Store:  The Island store is located upstairs above the main bar.  It will be open from 11-3 daily during the AVP Denver Open.