COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (January 25, 2023) – Two U.S. women’s beach teams are in Doha, Qatar, for the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Finals, which run January 26-29.
The team of Kristen Nuss/Taryn Kloth is one of eight teams that qualified for the finals. Nuss/Kloth are ranked eighth in the world after a 2022 season that included a gold in a futures event and five top-five finishes in elite 16 events.
The team of Kelly Cheng/Sara Hughes was awarded a wild card after winning two straight World Tour events shortly after reuniting in November.
The women’s teams have been separated into two pools of five.
Cheng/Hughes will open play Thursday morning against Netherlands’ Katja Stam/Raïsa Schoon. Nuss/Kloth will open Friday against Anastasija Samoilova/Tina Graudina of Latvia.
The winning women’s and men’s teams each get $150,000. The total prize purse is $800,000.
Matches are being shown on VolleyballWorld.tv.
For a complete competition schedule, visit VolleyballWorld.com.
ALIX KLINEMAN ANNOUNCES PREGNANCY
Alix Klineman, who won the 2020 Olympic gold medal with April Ross, announced on January 23 that she is pregnant. The father is her fiance, former NHL player Teddy Purcell.
“Right now my priority is having a healthy pregnancy and doing everything I can to deliver a healthy baby, but if everything worked out perfectly and magically maybe there would be a chance to make a last-second run at the Olympics,” Klineman told Volleyball Magazine. She also told the magazine that she is having a boy.
PARTNERSHIPS FOR 2023
The qualification period for beach volleyball in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris begins this month. Here are some of the U.S. teams expected to make a run.
Women
Kristen Nuss/Taryn Kloth
Therese Cannon/Sarah Sponcil
Emily Stockman/Megan Kraft
Kelly Cheng/Sara Hughes
Betsi Flint/Julia Scoles
Kelley Kolinske/Hailey Harward
Men
Taylor Crabb/Taylor Sander
Tri Bourne/Chaim Schalk
Theo Brunner/Trevor Crabb
Miles Partain/Andy Benesh
Logan Webber/Evan Cory
Kyle Friend/Tim Brewster
2023 WORLD TOUR SCHEDULE
Following the 2022 World Tour Finals, Doha will host the first Elite 16 event of 2023 on February 1-5.
On the women’s side, the U.S. teams of Nuss/Kloth and Stockman/Kraft are signed up for the qualifier while Cheng/Hughes and Cannon/Sponcil are in the main draw.
For the men, Webber/Cory and Friend/Brewster are signed up for the qualifier.
The full 2023 Volleyball World Beach Tour schedule is available at VolleyballWorld.com.
