Five U.S. Beach Teams Competing at Elite 16 in Paris

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 27, 2022) – Five U.S. beach pairs are competing in France this week at the Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 event in Paris. It’s the first Elite 16 event in over a month; the top pairs last battled it out in Hamburg, Germany, Aug. 10-14.

Hamburg winners Kelly Cheng/Betsi Flint (No. 32 in the world rankings) are in the Paris main draw with a goal of winning their second consecutive FIVB gold medal. They’re joined by Sarah Sponcil/Terese Cannon and Kristen Nuss/Taryn Kloth.

Sponcil/Cannon, ranked No. 24 in the world, will look to improve on their ninth-place finish at the Elite 16 event in Latvia in June.

This is Nuss/Kloth’s inaugural season on the Beach Pro Tour, and they already have four top-five finishes. They’ve won two tournaments and have finished no lower than ninth. They were fifth at the Gstaad Elite 16 in July.

Qualification rounds for the women begin Sept. 28, with Emily Stockman/Megan Kraft (No. 48) kicking off the tournament against Poland’s Kociolek/Lodej at 8:30 a.m. in France (11:30 p.m. PT on Sept. 27). The main draw begins Sept. 29 and is being played at the iconic Stade Roland Garros, home of the French Open tennis tournament.

On the men’s side, Miles Evans/Andy Benesh also begin play in the qualifying rounds Wednesday, facing Türkiye’s Mermer/Urlu at 3 p.m. in France (6 a.m. PT).

All matches are streamed on volleyballworld.tv