GLENDALE, Ariz. -- John Hyden proved himself wrong. A day after saying it would be too hard to repeat as an individual champion, Hyden became the first individual-format repeat winner since Karch Kiraly three-peated from 1991 to 1993. Hyden went unbeaten to reach the AVP Best of the Beach final Saturday night and then picked Phil Dalhuasser to be his championship partner.

Despite having never played together before, the Hyden-Dalhausser dynamics clicked for a 21-17, 21-17 win against the reunited pairing of championship qualifier Jake Gibb and his partner pick, Stein Metzger.

"The hardest part is getting to the finals," Hyden said after uncorking a bottle of champagne and spraying it on a sold-out crowd. "Once you pick up Phil, it's all downhill from there."

Gibb went with chemistry. Hyden made the popular pick. "The crowd wants Phil," Hyden declared before the match, later explaining, "Once he wasn't in it (the title match), it's an obvious choice. You've got to get with the best player in the world or you're the dumbest player."

Hyden and Dalhausser led the whole way in the first set, but it stayed tight with a big Gibb serve setting up a block that tightened the lead to 14-13. But that's as close as the set would get before Hyden closed it out with a kill down the line wide of Gibb's block attempt.

Gibb and Metzger looked as though they would extend the evening, grabbing a 13-7 lead in the second set with Gibb getting on a run of kills and blocks to mix with Metzger's touch game. A 7-0 Hyden/Dalhausser run wiped that out in a hurry.

"We just gave away that run," Gibb said. "That was the game right there. One of those sideouts and we're fine."

Back in it, things began to fall Hyden's way, whether it was a fortuitous serve deflection off the net or debated calls. He beat Hyden again at the net to set up a triple championship point. When it ended a point later, a man and a woman scaled the courtside barrier to hug Hyden before security sent them back. It was just Hyden's brother and sister, Matt and Joyce, who flew into Phoenix on Saturday to catch his repeat quest.

It wasn't the crowd he had in Las Vegas, where more than 30 friends and relatives watched him win the individual title. But Hyden's third career win didn't look any less special after the No. 10 seed became the lowest seeded player to ever win an individual format tournament.

"You really can't beat the atmosphere in Vegas but when you have all these people here like this, you don't know where you are," said Hyden, looking forward to an offseason of rest, rehabilitation and golf.

Dalhausser figured he owed Hyden after he and Todd Rogers snatched a tournament win away from Hyden and Brad Keenan earlier this month in Santa Barbara. He repaid him nicely, helping Hyden finish a $27,750 week.

"I took one away from in Santa Barbara," Dalhausser said. "He runs a great offense. He's great defensively and he serves well. It turns out this is his event."

Hyden and Gibb both made it to the championship the hard way, playing through the first round of pool play before moving through the top seeds that had a bye into the second round. Neither dropped a set in the first two rounds. Hyden dropped a set in his first Glendale match and won the next five in straight sets to reach the title match. Gibb also had a perfect second round, getting help from Dalhausser in one match.

Gibb's efforts were worth $21,750, although he initially was still wrestling with a few calls in the loss' aftermath. The hardest one to swallow was a point that would have tied the second set at 18-18 until the back line judge changed his own call, making Hyden's kill good for a 19-17 lead. Hyden beat Gibb at the net on the next point, giving him three championship points before a double-hit call closed it.

"I'll enjoy it in about 10 minutes," Gibb said when it was over.

While Dalhausser and Hyden were teaming up for the first time, Gibb and Metzger had more than a little familiarity. In calling up Metzger, who had been eliminated in the first round, Gibb was reuniting the AVP 2005 Team of the Year from the season that made him the MVP of the league. Gibb and Metzger reached seven championship matches that season, winning four times, before Metzger switched to childhood friend Mike Lambert to be his partner in 2006. "It was a no-brainer for me," Gibb said of picking Metzger. "We've always played well together."