Boulder, Colo. -- Mark Williams won his first AVP title today in Boulder, Colorado. Statistically, he had the best partner on tour to do it with as Stein Metzger and Boulder seem to go well together. Metzger has appeared in the finals of the two previous times the event has taken place in this city. In 2005, he took second and in 2006 he won it with Mike Lambert.

Today's match against Anthony Medel and Fred Souza was decided in two games and played out in front of a large, loud, local audience. A national audience also followed along because the game was broadcast live by NBC for the first time this season.

In game one, the teams seemed to play relatively evenly and the score remained close. Following a 15-10 timeout, Metzger and Williams were leading and seemed to have a greater amount of momentum. Williams had a few big blocks and a great kill that shanked off of Medel.

From that point on, Medel and Souza couldn't recover. To make matters worse, at 19-14 Medel drew a yellow card from the referee. The first game was finished after Williams dinked the ball over Souza's block and out of the reach of Medel. The final score was 21-17.

In game two, Medel and Souza came out rejuvenated and ready to battle. Souza started off the game right when he won the first point by slamming down a spike that landed almost completely vertically from where he'd made contact with it.

The next couple rallies were full of scrappy play and hard hits. The crowd roared with "oohs" and "wows" as neither team was ready to let the ball drop on their side of the net. However, despite Medel and Souza's efforts, they were never able to take the lead from Metzger and Williams and the final score was 21-15.

Following their win, Metzger and Williams were awarded with a $25,000 check and a bottle each of Barefoot sparkling wine. After spraying each other with the wine, the two were all smiles. They were ecstatic for their first win as team Metzger/Williams

Before this weekend, Williams and Metzger were very close to ending their partnership. They had hit a slump and were considering returning to their previous partners. After mulling it over, they decided to stick with each other.

"Prior to this weekend, we made a commitment to play with each other for the rest of the season... the first tournament after we decided that, we win!" said Metzger. Talk about getting a sign from above that you should play together!

Going in to the game against Medel and Souza, Williams said that the team's game plan was to neutralize the opposition's serving by receiving the serve with control and causing a side out. "We wanted to aim our serves alternating between Anthony and Fred until one made a mistake. Then we'd keep serving to that person and wear them down," added Metzger.

Well, their game plan worked overall. "Winning on a nationally televised network is a tremendous experience. This win feels great because it gives us confidence in knowing that, not only can we make it to finals, but we can win a title," explained Williams.

For Metzger, claiming the title was great and there was an extra motivation for him to make it happen: "It's really special to be a part of someone's first win... it's something they'll remember for the rest of their life."

Now that they're each $12,500 richer, what will they be spending their earnings on? Metzger plans on using it on upgrades for his boat. Williams hasn't planned it out yet. "Well, I'm going to the bar tonight...haha, but other than that, I'll probably save most of it."