Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss won the beach volleyball tour finals and will finish 2023 ranked No. 2 in the world.
Kloth, a 26-year-old who is 6-foot-4, and Nuss, a 25-year-old who is 5-foot-6, beat Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann 21-17, 21-14 in Saturday’s final in Doha to clinch the biggest title of their two-plus-year partnership.
They swept Olympic silver medalists Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy of Australia 21-19, 21-13 in the semifinals.
Kloth and Nuss are ranked second in the world behind Brazilians Ana Patricia and Duda, who took third at the finals.
Another American team, Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, beat Kloth and Nuss and Ana Patricia and Duda to win the world championships in October. Cheng and Hughes went 0-4 at the finals and are ranked third in the world.
Kloth and Nuss and Cheng and Hughes are in solid position to earn the two U.S. Olympic spots for the Paris Games. They will likely mathematically clinch those spots early next year.
Kloth and Nuss, former LSU teammates, began 2023 having to go through qualifying to earn main draw spots at international tournaments.
They totaled three international titles this year, plus two more on the domestic AVP tour.