Player seedings and pools are in place for the Sept. 17-19 AVP Crocs Tour Best of the Beach presented by Vegas.com in Las Vegas. With this, the top 16 players of each gender are set to square off in a Sin City showdown to determine the best individual players in the AVP. For a complete list of seedings and pools, see below.

Best of the Beach consists of a round-robin format, giving the AVP’s top athletes opportunities to team up with different partners.  The All-Star atmosphere will pair up stars such as Todd Rogers and Brad Keenan, Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, Sean Scott and Sean Rosenthal, and John Hyden and Jake Gibb on the men’s side. Women’s first-round matches will include teams of Nicole Branagh and Lisa Rutledge, Elaine Youngs and Brooke Hanson, April Ross and Tyra Turner, and Jen Kessy and Angie Akers.

Seedings and pools can be fun to follow, but recent history says they don’t mean everything. Two-time men’s defending champion Hyden enters Las Vegas as the fourth seed. He was seeded fifth in each of the past two seasons.

Rogers is the top seed for the third straight year but finished sixth last season and third in 2007. Last time he won, ironically, Rogers was seeded third in 2006.

Gibb and Dalhausser rounded out the top three last season. This time around, Gibb is seeded fifth and Dalhausser second.

Recent women’s seedings have been slightly more indicative of success. Defending champion Kessy comes in as the fourth seed after winning as the third seed last year.

Top seed Branagh finished third in 2007 and second last season. Looking to continue her upward trend, Branagh will vie for her first Best of the Beach victory.

Youngs took the title in 2007, when the top three seeds all secured top-three finishes. Youngs, seeded second this season, was also seeded second when she defeated top-seeded Kerri Walsh for the crown.

In 2006 top two seeds Walsh and Misty May-Treanor finished first and second, respectively. Without either of the two-time defending Olympic gold medalists in the mix, a wide open women’s field looks to provide plenty of excitement.

Fans will still get to see Walsh in a highly anticipated appearance Saturday night. At 6 p.m. PDT on Stadium Court, she will team up with husband and Las Vegas native Casey Jennings to take on another coed tandem to be announced. The game to 25 points will immediately precede the finals and will be streamed live on avpTV.

Best of the Beach finals matches will take place Saturday night, with the women starting at 10 p.m. and the men following at 11:30 p.m. EDT. KTLA will televise the finals live in their entirety in Southern California beginning at 7 p.m. PDT. Versus will air the finals nationally on tape delay Sunday, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. and Monday, Sept. 28 at 5 p.m. EDT.

avpTV will stream more than 11 hours of live Best of the Beach coverage from Las Vegas! Tune in Friday night at 9 p.m. EDT and watch until 1:30 a.m. EDT. Coverage will resume Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT and run until 1 a.m. EDT, culminating with the women’s and men’s finals. Click here to start watching avpTV for free!

Free courtside and general admission seating is available at all three morning sessions in Las Vegas. For a schedule of sessions and times, click here. For tickets to take in Best of the Beach night session action under the lights, click here!

Men Best of the Beach Entries:

Women Best of the Beach Entries: