GLENDALE , Ariz. -- When the format is individual, it pays to be a team more than ever. Season-long teammates April Ross and Jennifer Boss were the only top seeds to get a victory when the second round of the AVP Best of the Beach opened Friday night.

Seedings proved to be as misplaced with the results as 100-degree Sonoran Desert heat is with beach volleyball. Everything has been a bit different about this week with players rotating through unfamiliar partners, a tournament being staged outside a hockey arena and a full house of fans swatting away big bugs attracted by the stadium lights. Ross and Boss, the event's No. 2 and 3 seeds, capped the night session's matches with a 21-18, 21-15 victory against Tyra Turner and defending champion Elaine Youngs. .

"We like playing together so that really helps," Boss said.

"A lot of the fans underestimate the value of playing on a team," Ross said. "The next two matches should be interesting. We have such a strong bond that I don't want her to lose but competition's competition."

Each of the eight remaining seeds on the men's and women's sides have two more matches of second-round pool play before the pool winners pick their partners for the championship matches. Defending men's champion John Hyden, Jake Gibb and Nicole Branagh all are 4-0 after the first two days of play in Glendale.

Hyden and Sean Rosenthal have won twice together this week, including a 21-18, 21-14 victory against top-seeded Todd Rogers and fourth-seeded Nick Lucena.

Gibb and Brad Keenan also have two wins, winning the best match of the night Friday with a 21-19, 28-26 thriller against second-seeded Phil Dalhaussser and third-seeded Sean Scott. Gibb and Keenan won on their sixth match point. "It's so much fun out here, especially playing with different people," Keenan said. "I'm having a blast. It's hard to beat this, except for the giant grasshoppers hitting me."

The top four seeds on each side were playing their first matches of the week on Friday night but the victorious lower seeds said there was no advantage in gaining rhythm from first-round matches. It's too hot for that to be possible, as summer lingers in Glendale with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees during the day matches.

"It's so hot that I'm starting to get a headache," said Branagh, who gets a chance to play with Walsh today in a preview of a Dubai pairing. "It's the end of the year. Everyone's already exhausted. It's a long year, especially with the Olympics. We haven't had a break. It's fun to do something different and this crowd has a lot of energy."

Branagh and Annett Davis knocked off Walsh, the top seed, and Jenny Johnson Jordan, the fourth seed, in a 22-20, 21-17 match Friday.

"The heat drains you more than anything," Davis said. "Nicole was awesome. We're not used to playing with each other and she's playing a side she's not used to. It can also be good, though, because the other team isn't sued to you playing that side and your tendencies." .

Friday began with an AVP milestone when Barbra Fontana, 43, became the seventh woman to surpass $1 million in career earnings with a morning victory.