Not Mondo Duplantis or Sha’Carri Richardson, LSU’s Star Along With Partner Aiming for 6th Medal in Beach Volleyball World Championship

The Louisiana State University boasts of producing some of the best athletes in the world. Over the years, top sportspersons like Shaquille O’Neal, Pete Maravich, Alex Bregman, and countless others have honed their talents at LSU. While more recently, the university also saw the likes of Olympic champion Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, and track and field world champion Sha’Carri Richardson be a part of LSU’s prestigious sporting program. But it is another LSU graduate who is currently making waves with her partner at the 2023 Beach Volleyball World Championships.

Kristen Nuss has more than 135 victories to her name during her time at LSU, where she was also named 3x All-American AVCA and NCAA Par of the Year. Once again, the LSU graduate has taken the beach volleyball world by storm along with her teammate Taryn Kloth as they continue to dominate the 2023 Beach World Championships along with six other U.S. teams.

U.S. teams continue to dominate the beach volleyball world

The 2023 Beach World Championships in Mexico will determine the 2023 world champion team. 48 men’s and women’s teams from 40 countries are all eyeing the $1 million prize and a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Amongst those representing the U.S. is the formidable partnership of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, who are fresh off from winning their 5th medal at Elite16 Paris and now have their sights set on a 6th medal for the 2023 season. However, they are not alone as a USA Volleyball post on X highlighted that 6 more U.S. beach volleyball teams have advanced to the round of 32.

The tweet further explained which teams head to the next round in its caption, which read, “Pool play has finished at the 2023 Beach World Championship and the U.S. has teams moving on! Advancing to the Round of 32: Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss: Pool B winners (3-0) Sara Hughes/Kelly Cheng: Pool C winners (2-1) Terese Cannon/Megan Kraft: Pool I winners (2-1).” Other U.S. teams that will be joining these teams in the round of 32 are Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles, who are Pool J winners (3-0), Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, who are Pool C winners (3-0) and Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner who are Pool D winners (2-1). Another U.S. beach volleyball team made the cut, but they had to take a different route for qualifying. 

Miles Evans and Chase Budinger advance to the round of 32

While all other U.S. teams advancing to the round of 32 were group winners, Miles Evans and Chase Budinger finished third in Pool D. This meant that the duo had to participate in the Lucky Loser match in order to move ahead to the next round. Evans and Budinger eventually lived up to the task and ended up beating Mexico’s Sarbia/Virgen 2-0 (24-22, 21-19) and now become the seventh U.S. team to advance to the round of 32 of the 2023 Beach World Championships. Their next match will be against the pairing of Sweden’s Åhman and Hellvig.

Read more: Despite Being Suspended Twice USA Beach Volleyball Player Taylor Crabb to Get His Chance at the Tokyo Olympics

As for the 2023 Beach World Championships, it will conclude on October 15 and continues to live up to its hype of the biggest event this season on the FIVB calendar. It also serves as a crucial stop before the 2024 Paris Olympics and gives the fans a glimpse of what’s to come next year.

Watch this story: Emergence of “Daddies” Raises Hopes for the USA Men’s Volleyball Team Ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics