In the end, no USA pair stood on the podium at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Paris Elite 16.
The winners Sunday were Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum and Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam of the Netherlands. They took home $30,000 per pair.
The best finish among the Americans was by Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint, who lost the match for third place and took home $10,000 for their efforts.
In the men’s final, Mol and Sorum beat Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meewsen of the Netherlands 21-19, 21-18. Italy’s Samuele Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai won bronze by beating Chile’s Esteban Grimalt and Marco Grimalt 21-16, 21-16.
The women’s final saw Schoon and Stam beat the Latvian pair of Anastasija Samoilova and Tina Graudina, the former USC great, 21-16, 22-20. Both Schoon (21) and Stam (24) celebrate their birthdays on Monday and they were serended by the crowd at Roland Garros after their victory.
In the bronze-medal match, Brazilians Duda Lisboa and Ana Patricia Silva beat Cheng and Flint 21-12, 13-21, 15-8.
Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, eliminated by Duda and Silva 21-17, 22-24, 15-12, tied for fifth and took home $8,000. Also in the field were Megan Kraft and Emily Stockman, who tied for ninth and made $6,000, and Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil, who tied for 13th and made $5,000.
The only USA pair in the men’s draw was Andy Benesh, who failed to get out of the qualifier.
The next Volleyball World Elite 16 is November 2-6 in Cape Town, South Africa. The next Challenge event is October 13-16 in Maldives.
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