PARIS, France, August 1, 2024.- The U.S. beach team of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss rallied from one set down to finish 3-0 and finish first in Pool B with a 2-1 (15-21, 21-16, 15-12) two-hour win over Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi of China on Thursday. Kloth/Nuss advanced directly to the Round of 16, which begins on Sunday, August 4.
Nuss scored 23 points on 21 kills and two blocks with Nuss, who made several key plays in the final moments of the match, totaling 16 points on 14 kills and a pair of aces. Kloth/Nuss made only seven errors in the three sets while the pair from China finished with 12 errors.
Xue/X. Y. Xia ran out to a 5-1 lead and never trailed by fewer than two points the rest of the set, scoring consecutive points at 7-5 and 11-8 to stretch the lead to five. A China ace and a U.S. hitting error led to a timeout with the U.S. trailing 16-9. Kloth/Nuss scored the next three points to shave the deficit to four points before a side switch but would get no closer. Kloth recorded six kills in the set.
A great dig by Nuss helped give the U.S. an early lead, 5-3, in the second set. Xue/X. Y. Xia evened the set but with the score 7-7, Nuss connected on a kill off the net and recorded her first ace to regain a two-point advantage. A Kloth kill extended the lead to three points, 11-8.
The teams exchanged points until a kill by Nuss stretched the margin to four, 15-11, and shortly thereafter, Kloth’s second block of the set made it 17-12. The Chinese duo staged a comeback by scoring the next three points before Nuss poked a shot into the back corner and recorded her second ace for a 19-15 lead. Nuss ended a long rally to give the U.S. its first set point of the match. A service error sent the match to a deciding set. Kloth scored nine points on seven kills and her two blocks with Nuss also recorded nine points on seven kills to go with her two aces.
Kloth registered her second kill of the third set to give the U.S. a 3-2 lead before a rain delay paused the match. After a lengthy delay that cleared out most of the fans other than NBA legend LeBron James, the teams returned to the court with neither team able to take a two-point lead until the U.S. used a 4-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. Nuss scored the final two points in the run, one on an angle shot after a great did and another on a shot down the line.
“They just kept giving us updates every 15-20 minutes,” Nuss said of the delay. “It was looking positive it was going to go through so we figured we would be playing and we were just working with our trainer to stay warm.”
Xue/X. Y. Xia came right back to score the next two points to draw within one point, 12-11 and looked like they may even the set with a serve that trickled over the net. Ness made a great play to keep the ball in play and made it 13-11 with a well-placed kill. Kloth pounded a ball down to give the U.S. match point. After a service error gave China life, Nuss ended the match with her fifth kill of the set. Kloth registered seven kills.
“I just thought back to practice when our coach is like you have to win these five points right now,” Kloth said. “It’s just kind of like at the end of practice, you’re dead tired and it’s no you are going to find a way, both of you two on your side, you’re going to earn five points, earn ten points.”
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