LSU's Beach Volleyball Duo Win In Olympic Debut

LSU beach volleyball alumni duo Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss won their debut Olympic beach volleyball match against the Canadian team of Sophie Bukovec and 3 time Olympic veteran Heather Bansley in the first day of competition. Under a stunning sunset at the foot of the iconic Eiffel Tower, the second seeded Kloth and Nuss made a statement, in a two set win.

Kloth and Nuss came out of the gate swinging and led the entire set after taking a 1 - 0 lead on the first serve off a Kloth dink to the opposing sand. They strategically only served to Bansley, which neutralized the strong play of Bukovec. The Canadian team struggled to find any rhythm in the first set against the 6'4" Kloth's smothering defense at the net and Bansley's own repeated hitting errors. The Americans took the first set comfortable with a 21 - 17 score.

The Americans then struggled in the second set as the Canadians cleaned up their hitting errors, and picked on Nuss' exhaustion as she covered the entire back half of the court. However, Kloth continued her dominance at the net, and ultimately the Americans scored 7 straight points to clean up their slow start in the second set. Nuss’ darting defense proved unbeatable down the stretch, and the American duo put away the win on a final Nuss dink to win the second set 21 - 14 and sweep the match in two games.

Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss looked like season Olympians on the sand, and will look to build on their dominant debut Monday against Australia.

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