It have to be the chocolate.
Or perhaps it’s the pizza.
Maybe the black magic of coach Drew Hamilton again dwelling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
That’s what Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth will let you know, anyway, when requested in regards to the secret sauce to their undefeated run at this week’s Paris Elite16. After a 2-0 begin to the week, with dominant victories over Italy and Australia, Nuss credited the recent chocolate that has been a well-liked function of her “meals chronicles” on her Instagram.
After a 21-13, 21-17 pounding over Italy’s Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti in Saturday night’s semifinals, Kloth smiled that All-American smile, shrugged, and advised the gang that “I just like the pizza.”
Certainly, America’s lovable seashore volleyball darlings have completed it once more, marching to their fourth ultimate of the Seaside Professional Tour season, profitable over a Parisian crowd within the course of. They’ve dropped only a single set so far in Paris, to Germans Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann in Saturday’s quarterfinals. That has been the lone blemish in a event by which they’ve outscored their opponents 223-173 and gained six units by 4 or extra factors.
“The key is simply trusting one another, trusting our coaching, trusting what our coach has been educating us at observe,” Nuss stated. “It actually simply is the belief we’ve between one another and our group.”
That belief has led to a season that’s the very antithesis of the sophomore droop. Rookies in 2022, Nuss and Kloth struggled to interrupt into the top-tier of the elite groups, closing the season with 5 fifth-place finishes. This 12 months? They’ve made extra finals than they’ve completed fifth, as their gold medal match on Sunday morning in opposition to Brazil’s Duda Lisboa and Ana Patricia Silva will likely be their fifth crack at a gold.
Beating the Brazilians is, in fact, no small process. After a comparatively sluggish begin to the 12 months, no group has been higher these previous 5 months than the Brazilians. They’re the one group on the planet to win a number of Elite16 occasions, with three gold medals and a possible fourth on Sunday in Paris. It was Ana Patricia and Duda who saved Nuss and Kloth from gold in Hamburg six weeks in the past, beating the USA 21-16, 21-17 of their fifth assembly of the season.
In seven profession matches in opposition to Ana Patricia and Duda, Nuss and Kloth have but to beat the Brazilians. They’ve come shut, taking the primary set within the Ostrava Elite16, battling to a 3rd set in Tepic, however they haven’t but discovered the answer to maintain the extent of play required to stump the Brazilians.
Few have.
Ana Patricia and Duda have gained 26 of their earlier 27 matches, their solely blemish approaching a weird and wild comeback from Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles within the quarterfinals of the Montreal Elite16. Other than that black swan, by which they gave up a 14-9 lead within the third set, the Brazilians have been nearly untouchable.
In Paris, so have Nuss and Kloth.
Maybe the Parisian chocolate and pizza combo — and the distant teaching of Hamilton — is what Nuss and Kloth have wanted all alongside to alas stump the unsolvable riddle that’s Ana Patricia and Duda.
Schweiner-Perusic wanting wholesome as soon as extra at Paris Elite16
Equally as unsolvable in Paris have been the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner. After sitting out a variety of occasions this 12 months attributable to damage, the Czechs seem greater than wholesome. Like Nuss and Kloth and Ana Patricia and Duda, their run to the finals on the boys’s aspect has been an undefeated one, with 5 straight matches gained. Their 21-16, 21-15 dismantling of Robert Meeuwsen and Alex Brouwer of the Netherlands within the semifinals was additional proof of their well being.
They’ll meet Germans Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers within the finals, a rematch from the primary match of pool play by which Perusic and Schweiner gained, 21-19, 24-26, 15-12.
It was Perusic and Schweiner whom Andy Benesh and Miles Partain would have performed within the quarterfinals had they gained their first spherical of playoffs, in opposition to Italians Sam Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai. Alas, Benesh and Partain, who have been off all weekend and wanted a good win over Australia on Friday merely to interrupt pool, remained off, dropping 17-21, 16-21 to the Italians to complete ninth, their worst of the season but nonetheless tops among the many American males, all of whom struggled in Paris.
“On the finish of the event each ball actually counts,” Schweiner stated. “I’m glad we managed to maintain our focus and win the sport.”
Meeuwsen and Brouwer will play Austrians Julian Horl and Alex Horst, one other group who got here out of Wednesday’s qualifier, for bronze. The ladies’s bronze medal match will likely be between Gottardi and Menegatti and Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands.
All matches of the Paris Elite16 may be seen on VolleyballTV. Use “VOLLEYBALLMAG” for a reduction.
