American beach volleyball teams asserted their dominance at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 in Saquarema, Brazil, by topping three of the six women’s pools in the early stages of the tournament. Their impressive performances earned them direct qualification to the Round of 12.
Breakout Performances by U.S. Teams
- Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw delivered a surprising upset by defeating Brazilian Olympic champions Duda Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos in a tightly contested three-set match (16-21, 21-19, 15-13), clinching Pool E. Shaw is temporarily partnering with Cheng for the early 2025 season.
- Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, serious Olympic hopefuls, continued their dominant form by overcoming Brazilian duo Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti 2-1 (21-16, 13-21, 15-12) to win Pool B.
- Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft extended their strong Pro Tour streak, defeating Australians Taliqua Clancy and Jana Milutinovic (25-23, 21-9) to take Pool C.
International Highlights
- Brazilians Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes were the only home team to top a pool, emerging from Pool A after defeating the Lithuanian Olympic duo Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte.
- Germany’s Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillman secured Pool D with a straight-sets win over Andressa Cavalcanti and Tainá Bigi of Brazil.
- Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova edged out Canadian Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson in a close match to claim Pool F.
What’s Next
The action continues on Friday with six Round of 18 matches, followed by the Round of 12 later the same day, as teams battle for semifinal spots.
For full match schedules and results, visit the official tournament page on Volleyball World.
