Duos from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland also continue in the hunt for the world title
Published 04:11, 13 Oct 2023
Kristen Nuss makes an acrobatic dig during the Round of 16
Beach volleyball powerhouses the United States and Brazil will each have two teams in the women’s quarterfinals of the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships after the Round of 16 was completed across four Mexican cities on Thursday.
Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland will also be represented in the third stage of the elimination rounds, which will have four matches taking place in Tlaxcala, Apizaco and Huamantla on Friday.
One of just three teams to have not lost sets yet in Mexico, Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss continued their march to the medal rounds with a two-set (24-22, 21-14) victory over Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti in Tlaxcala.
Competing at the World Championships for the first time, the Americans have eliminated two world champions in the last two days – Canadian Sarah Pavan in the Round of 32 and Agatha in the Round of 16.
“It feels really surreal because last year we were watching the World Championships from home and wanting to be here, but it felt so far away and now we’re here,” Kloth reflected. “It’s crazy, there isn’t really a feeling that describes it, it takes over all your emotions, physically and mentally.”
Besides dealing with the challenges of competing in the biggest event of their careers, the Americans, perhaps more than everyone else as they practice below sea level in Louisiana, had to prepare to handle the altitude of about 2,200 meters of Tlaxcala.
“It was tough to prepare for the altitude because we were going to be playing in Paris the week before,” Nuss explained. “But we train in very high temperatures, so that helped us adapt to it. We’re doing fine, but we can definitely feel the altitude a little bit.”
In the quarterfinals, Kloth and Nuss will meet reigning European champions Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli of Switzerland, who overcame another American duo in the Round of 16, beating Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles in straight sets (21-17, 27-25).
Beach Volleyball World Championships - Match Schedule and Results
The second American team in the quarterfinals, Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes had a tougher path on Thursday, coming from behind to defeat Latvian stars Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova in the tie-breaker (19-21, 21-16, 15-11).
“We feel amazing,” Hughes reacted. “It was a little shaky in the first set there, but we got back to our game and, when we did it, things went very well. They are an amazing team, they are so steady, we knew we had to play our best and that's what we did. In the quarterfinals, we're just going to come out in the same way we did, with a lot of fire and a lot of passion, and try to play our best volleyball.”
Their quarterfinal opponents, Tainá Bigi and Victoria Lopes also had a dramatic Round of 16 victory in Tlaxcala. The Brazilians got the better of Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann, who had defeated them in pool play, winning a tight three-set (21-19, 22-24, 15-13) match and eliminating last year’s bronze medalists.
Tainá and Victoria won a tie-breaker for a second-straight day in Mexico
Their compatriots and training partners, reigning world champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos also advanced on Thursday. The Brazilians knocked out China’s Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia in two sets (25-23, 21-18) and will now play Dutch Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon, who eliminated Americans Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft with a sweep (21-18, 21-17).
Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson also kept their record clean in Mexico, getting their fifth straight-set (21-14, 21-11) victory in the event against Swiss Esmée Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré. They will now face Tokyo Olympic silver medalists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho of Australia, who needed the tie-breaker (21-18, 15-21, 15-11) to handle Italians Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi.
Cheng/Hughes and Tainá/Victoria will play in the first quarterfinal, in Tlaxcala, at 17:00 local time (23:00 UTC). One hour later, Clancy/Mariafe and Melissa/Brandie will clash in Apizaco. Tlaxcala will host the third duel of the day, between Kloth/Nuss and Brunner/Hüberli, at 19:00 local time (01:00 UTC, Saturday). The match between Duda/Ana Patrícia and Stam/Schoon will end the day, at 21:00 local time (03:00 UTC).
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