Kristen Nuss & Taryn Kloth are the 2024 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour champions. The American duo defended their Doha Finals gold from last year and triumphed as champions for the second time in a row, while collecting their overall eighth gold and 12th medal on the Tour over the years.
Beach Pro Tour
Nuss & Kloth triumph as back-to-back Beach Pro Tour champions
Cannon & Kraft take Doha Finals silver; bronze goes to Tina & Anastasija
Published 07:03, 07 Dec 2024
- Watch the Doha Finals on VBTV.
The other American pair in the women’s tournament in Qatar, Terese Cannon & Megan Kraft, also reached the final of the Finals, but settled for silver. They are now on a streak of four consecutive medals on the Tour, after their Gstaad Elite16 silver, Vienna Elite16 bronze and Rio de Janeiro Elite16 silver, but their first gold as a team is still evading them.
Top-seeded Tina Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova earned the bronze. It was their ninth medal on the Beach Pro Tour, but first at a Finals event.
Both sets of Saturday evening’s all-American final went back and forth with Nuss & Kloth taking the upper hand for a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) victory. Nuss’s four aces and Kloth’s five kill blocks tilted the outcome their way. They finished with 16 and 17 points, respectively, while Cannon delivered a match-high 22 points.
“I don’t know if there is many words there, but we have to give a huge credit to our fellow Americans Meg and Terese. What a tournament!” Nuss told VBTV after the final. “We are very excited to end the season like this. What a year it’s been! So to go out like this – I don’t think you can ask for much better.”
“It feels pretty good,” Kloth added. “We are ready for a nice break, but we were so happy to be here. Thank you, beach volleyball world for an amazing year!”
Cannon/Kraft vs. Nuss/Kloth - Gold Match Highlights | Doha Finals 2024 #BeachProTour
In the bronze medal match, Tina & Anastasija played against fifth-seeded Xue Chen & Xia Xinyi of China. After winning a dramatic first set in the overtime, the Latvians were well in control of the second and celebrated a 2-0 (24-22, 21-16) win. Tina was the best scorer of the match with 23 points, including three blocks and two aces. Anastasija also fired two aces to finish with 12 points. On the other of the net, Xue matched their combined ace total, while Xia led the team with 20 points, all in attack.
Earlier on Saturday, both American teams won their semifinals in straight sets. Cannon & Kraft mastered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) sweep of their encounter with Tina & Anastasija. Kraft fired three aces towards a 19-point match high, while Cannon put away three kill blocks and two aces to finish with 15 points. Then, Nuss & Kloth were even more emphatic and hammered out a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) shutout of Xue & Xia. Kloth led the way with 21 points, including three blocks and two aces. Nuss added 13.