100% NCAA: Meet Team USA women’s beach volleyball players
One pair played together at Southern California, while the other competed at LSU
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA’s women’s beach volleyball roster for the first time is composed entirely of student-athletes who played NCAA beach volleyball. Even more, both pairs played together in college, underscoring the NCAA’s pivotal role in developing top-tier talent for the global stage. The roster features Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, who were teammates at LSU, and Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng, who were teammates at Southern California.
“Being on a team in college, it just it shapes who you are. There’s so many just life lessons I learned playing a sport in college and being on a team that I’ll forever use in my everyday life,” Nuss said. “Whether you’re in the business world or still playing sport, I mean no matter what, it just gives you life lessons that I greatly cherish to this day and will forever.”
Meet the team
- Taryn Kloth (Creighton indoor volleyball, LSU beach volleyball).
- Kristen Nuss (LSU beach volleyball).
- Sara Hughes (Southern California beach volleyball).
- Kelly Cheng (Southern California beach volleyball).
NCAA connections
Hughes and Cheng (formerly Claes) were a dominant force in collegiate beach volleyball at Southern California. Hughes, the first high school player to commit exclusively to beach volleyball in college, won the American Volleyball Coaches Association national title as a freshman in 2014 with Kirby Burnham. She then partnered with Cheng to win another AVCA title and the first two NCAA titles, in 2016 and 2017. She was a four-time AVCA All-American, while Cheng was a three-time All-American. Together, Hughes and Cheng achieved an astounding 147-4 record, including a record 103 consecutive match wins. They went undefeated in their junior year.
At LSU, Kloth and Nuss also had exceptional collegiate careers. Kloth, originally an indoor volleyball player at Creighton, transitioned to beach volleyball in graduate school. She and Nuss had a perfect 36-0 record in 2021. They earned multiple accolades, including the AVCA Pair of the Year award. Nuss, the all-time winningest player in NCAA college beach volleyball history with 136 victories, earned the VolleyballMag.com Player of the Year title in 2021.
International experience
Cheng is the lone returning Olympian among the four Team USA beach players, finishing ninth with partner Sarah Sponcil at the Tokyo Games. Cheng and Hughes are currently tied for No. 5 in the world FIVB beach volleyball rankings. They are the defending world champions and recently claimed gold medals at the final qualifying event in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The Trojan duo will be coached by current Southern California associate head coach Gustavo Rocha.
The unlikely duo of the 5-6 Nuss and the 6-4 Kloth has quickly risen to the top ranks of beach volleyball, currently standing at No. 2 in the FIVB world rankings. Known as Team TKN, they began their professional careers with a standout rookie season on the AVP Tour, winning the AVP Gold Series event at the 2021 Atlanta Open and being named AVP Co-Rookies of the Year. Despite initial doubts about their Olympic potential without prior ranking points, Kloth and Nuss excelled internationally, earning crucial points and winning significant tournaments, including defeating the 2021 Olympic silver medalists in Turkey. By the start of 2024, they had clinched their spot in the Paris Olympics, marking the most podium finishes for an American team since Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross in 2016.
Tune in
Follow the Team USA women’s beach volleyball teams as they compete in the Paris Olympics. The full schedule is below. (All times are Eastern.)
- 4 p.m. Saturday, July 27 — United States (Nuss/Kloth) vs. Canada.
- 4 p.m. Sunday, July 28 — United States (Hughes/Cheng) vs. Czech Republic.
- 4 p.m. Monday, July 29 — United States (Nuss/Kloth) vs. Australia.
- 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 31 — United States (Hughes/Cheng) vs. France.
- 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1 — United States (Nuss/Kloth) vs. China.
- 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2 — United States (Hughes/Cheng) vs. Germany.
- Tuesday, Aug. 6 — Quarterfinals.
- Wednesday, Aug. 7 — Quarterfinals.
- Thursday, Aug. 8 — Semifinals.
- Friday, Aug. 9 — Medal matches.
View the broadcast schedule for beach volleyball here.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
