It is a unique style of training that Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth have taken to in the lead-up to the AVP Atlanta Gold Series, which begins on Friday and will be streamed on Bally Live and ESPN+. They were active on Wednesday, sure, but there was no sand in sight.
Nor was there a beach volleyball.
Instead of passing and setting and hitting volleyballs at Atlantic Station, Nuss and Kloth were 45 minutes down the road, in Flowery Branch, running routes and catching passes from Desmond Ridder, the sophomore quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons.
“You could say I had a little fun,” Nuss said.
Atlanta has long been a city where Nuss and Kloth have had a little fun. It is the site of their first AVP as professionals, and consequently the site of their first AVP win, when the two doe-eyed rookies marched through the qualifier and five straight main draw matches to claim their first of four victories and counting.
“I don’t know if I ever expected myself to win an AVP,” Nuss said later that summer. “I did think we were going to do well. I thought our game would transition to the pros. In college, especially on the top courts, you’re playing against teams who could play on the AVP. But winning it — Atlanta had such a weird feeling. Going into it, no one expected us to win this thing. But could we win it? I don’t know. I don’t know if I go in expecting to win. Obviously if we play well, winning is a high possibility, but I never go in thinking ‘This game’s ours.’ ”
There’s a chance that thought process has changed. Since their first victory in Atlanta in 2021, Nuss and Kloth have won tournaments all over the world, from Australia to Brazil, Turkey to Phoenix, Chicago to Mexico. This week, however, will be the stiffest test yet on the AVP. For the first time all year, everyone will be home.
Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes lead the seeding, as they should: Since teaming up in November of 2022, they have yet to drop a single AVP match, winning in Huntington Beach, New Orleans, and Huntington Beach again.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, fresh off their first Elite16 gold medal of the year in Montreal, seek their second AVP win of the year after taking the season-opener in Miami.
Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil made the final here a year ago, losing a thriller to Geena Urango and Julia Scoles. It’s…
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