Top seeds Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs became champions twice over Sunday at the AVP Crocs Cup Championship Kentucky Grilled Chicken Chicago Open, winning both the tournament and the season-long Crocs Cup Championship title. The victory was the ninth AVP title for Branagh / Youngs in 2009.

Branagh / Youngs defeated second-seeded Jen Kessy / April Ross 21-14, 13-21, 15-11 in Sunday’s finals. The two teams had met in seven prior AVP finals in 2009, with Branagh / Youngs winning four times and Kessy / Ross three.

“They’re a great team and we had a lot of battles this year,” Youngs said. “We were down in the third game, and we just kept fighting.”

“They buried us in the first game, and came back pretty well in the second,” Kessy said. “But we’ll get them next week.”

Branagh / Youngs advanced to the final with a 21-17, 21-11 win over third-seeded Annett Davis / Jenny Johnson Jordan, while Kessy / Ross defeated fourth-seeded Priscilla Lima / Tatiana Minello 21-12, 21-11.

In addition to the Chicago Open title, Branagh / Youngs claimed the season-long Crocs Cup Championship title. The Crocs Cup awards $75,000 in bonus money to the top four teams of each gender based on their top ten 2009 finishes as a team through this weekend’s tournament. Branagh / Youngs won the $45,000 first-place bonus, while Kessy / Ross claimed the $15,000 second-place prize. Davis / Johnson Jordan took third and $10,000, while Carrie Dodd / Dianne DeNecochea finished fourth and went home with $5,000.

The sixth-seeded team of two-time gold medalist Kerri Walsh and bronze medalist Holly McPeak finished tied for fifth after an 18-21, 21-19 15-13 Contenders’ Bracket loss to Lima / Minello. Click here for an all-access video of McPeak and Walsh together in Chicago!

The women’s semifinals will be tape delayed on Universal Sports at 11 p.m. CT Sunday and a re-air of the finals will be broadcast immediately after, at 12:30 a.m. CT, also on Universal Sports.