PARIS, France, July 27, 2024.– With the lights of the Eiffel Tower sparkling and glowing in the background, the U.S. beach team of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, ranked No. 2 in the world, won its Olympic debut, 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) over Canada’s Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec.
Kloth and Nuss will next face Mariafe Artacho Del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia on Monday, July 29 a las 10 p.m. local. Bansley and Bukovec will face earlier (11:00 a.m. local) against Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi of China.
“It was so magical,” Nuss said of playing at Eiffel Tower Stadium at sunset. “To walk into the venue and hear all the fans and hear everybody was spectacular. And then you got to see the spectacle of the light show.”
Despite the theatrics, the pair stayed focused as Kloth and Nuss used a balanced scoring attack with Nuss totaling 15 points on 14 kills and an ace, and Kloth scoring 13 points on 10 kills and three blocks. Nuss finished with 17 digs.
Kloth and Nuss admitted to some nerves before the match but said their coach Drew Hamilton calmed them down.
“Our coach, at the beginning, really tried to calm us down,” Kloth said. “He made us realize that this really is the exact game we play every day in practice. We are doing the same thing, just in a very, very cool venue.”
The U.S. duo scored the first four points in the match and later took a 7-2 lead on strong net play by Kloth that frustrated their opponents’ offense early in the match. Bansley/Bukovec mounted a rally later in the set with three points in a row to cut the lead to one point, 13-12, but a Nuss kill in the back corner thwarted the comeback. Nuss scored the set-winning point, her fourth kill of the opening set. Kloth finished the set with eight points on seven kills and a block.
Nuss reached double digits in kills with 10 in a second set that saw the U.S. jump out to a six-point lead, 11-5, as Nuss scored on a ball down the line. Her 11th kill of the match made it 14-11 and then the teams traded service errors. With the score 15-12, the U.S. finished the match on a 7-2 run. Nuss ended the match with a kill that went off the net and landed in bounds.
Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: schedule and results
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