Nuss-Kloth, Cheng-Hughes to face off in World Championships semifinals
TLAXCALA, MEXICO — It’s easy to forget, just how far Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth have come in such a small amount of time. This is the second beach volleyball event the quaint Mexican city of Tlaxcala has hosted, the first being a Challenge in March of 2022.
How did Nuss and Kloth do in that one?
Well, they didn’t.
Rookies and owners of zero entry points at the time, they couldn’t even get into the tournament.
Now?
Now they’re the No. 2 seeds at the Beach Volleyball World Championships, into the semifinals after a 21-17, 19-21, 15-8 quarterfinal victory over Switzerland’s Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli. It was yet another performance that belies their experience, or lack thereof, a sophomore season on the Beach Pro Tour that has been anything but the sophomore slump. Already, they’ve won five medals, nearly tripling their total from 2022. On Saturday and Sunday, they’ll have two cracks at another, on the biggest stage in the sport.
“I don’t know how you can not have that joy when you’re sitting in the box, and the lights are off, and the fans have the flashlights on,” said Nuss, who is leading the field in digs per match with 17.17. “We don’t even talk about volleyball in timeouts. I mean, we are in a bull ring, playing beach volleyball, in Mexico. How can you not just be like ‘Oh my gosh this is so cool. This is so surreal.’ ”
It has been a surreal week for the USA as a whole. Nine American pairs competed in the World Championships. Six claimed top-10 finishes. Three remain in the hunt for a medal.
Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, typically the nightcap closers for the USA, notched the first victory, a 21-14, 21-18 win that was their most complete match of the tournament. For the first time in the playoffs, they left no doubt, jumping on Brazil’s Taina Silva and Victoria Lopes 12-5 to open the first set, never allowing the Brazilians back into it.
“We came out with so much more fire in this game,” said Cheng, who finished with one block and one ace. “The last two [against Austria and Latvia] we came out a little flat and then found it. Tonight we started out with that fire. Just want to keep that rolling.”
Kelly Cheng, left, and Sara Hughes celebrate their quarterfinal victory/ Volleyball World photo
To remain rolling, however, friendly fire will be required. Their 6 p.m. semifinal will be against an all-too familiar foe in Nuss and Kloth.
“Big surprise,” Kloth said, laughing, “the AVP on the FIVB.”
It’s the 13th time this season Kloth and Nuss will play an American opponent on the Beach Pro Tour, and the third such occasion they are playing Cheng and Hughes. When including a pair of matches on the AVP, the series is split at two wins apiece.
“Not only is it two [USA teams] in the semis, but the amount of teams that were in the round of 16,” Nuss said, referencing the six American teams in total who vied for spots in the quarterfinals.
Regardless of the result on Saturday, the USA is guaranteed, at the minimum, a silver medal.
The men would love to guarantee the same.
Miles Partain hits past Poland’s Michal Bryl/Volleyball World photo
Trevor Crabb, Theo Brunner seeking to get over fourth-place hump
In three of the previous four Beach Volleyball World Championships, an American men’s team has finished in an impressive yet haunting position: Fourth. It’s a run that began with Theo Brunner and Nick Lucena at the Hague in 2015, extended to Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb in Hamburg in 2019, and furthered by Brunner and Chaim Schalk in Rome last year.
After sweeping Brazil’s Guto and Pedro in Friday’s quarterfinal (21-17, 21-14), Brunner and Crabb will match up with the Czech Republic’s David Schweiner and Ondrej Perusic, who stunned top-seeded Anders Mol and Christian Sorum (21-14, 14-21, 15-12). While the women’s field is mostly a chalk-walk in the semifinals, with the four teams remaining — Duda and Ana Patricia, Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy, Cheng and Hughes, Nuss and Kloth — seeded 1, 5, 3, 2, respectively, the men’s field is a varied assortment.
Crabb and Brunner, at No. 21, are the lowest-seeded team remaining, but they will play the No. 16. Poland’s Bartosz Losiak and Michal Bryl, who swept Andy Benesh and Miles Partain (21-19, 21-16) are seeded 11. Only Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, seeded second, have fended off an upset, and even then, they barely managed to do so, hanging on to beat Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot (32-30, 22-24, 15-12) in what may very well be the match of the tournament.
Crabb has channeled his inner Kristen Nuss this week, leading the field both in total digs (59) and digs per match (9.83). He will need all 9.83 and then some against the Czechs, who are peaking at the right time, coming off a gold medal at the Paris Elite16 and a second win over Norway.
They will play at 7 p.m., following the all-American women’s semifinal.
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