NCAA champions powering Team USA beach volleyball at Paris Games

As the Parisian sunset cast a tangerine tapestry behind the iconic Eiffel Tower and its majestic lattice of steel girders and rivets, anticipation began building in the beach volleyball stadium below. 

First the lights went out, bringing a collective gasp from the crowd. Then they returned, transitioning through a spectrum of colors illuminating the court in blue, purple, red and orange as spectators oohed and aahed over the changes and music thumped through the venue. The Eiffel Tower sparkled overhead in unison with the stadium's lights. Spectators held their cell phone flashlights high throughout the spectacle. 

When the lights turned white again on this July evening in Paris, the U.S. beach volleyball pair of Sarah Hughes and Kelly Cheng emerged with their arms raised and waving to the roaring crowd as they stepped onto the cool sand court for their first match of the Paris Olympics. 

Anyone could be forgiven for mistaking the athletes for rock stars crossing a stage, for beach volleyball — or perhaps any Olympic sport — has never seen a venue or an environment quite like Eiffel Tower Stadium. It's made beach volleyball the diva of the Paris Olympics, luring regular spots on primetime broadcasts with its postcard-worthy backdrop and party atmosphere. The top-shelf billing illustrates the sport's exploding popularity around the world since it first debuted at the 1992 Barcelona Games as a demonstration sport. 

But under these lights, new stars may soon be shining. 

This isn't just another quadrennial event for the U.S. team. It's a potential turning point in the competitiveness of the United States on the world stage. Both American teams entered Paris ranked among the top five pairings in the world, raising hopes of seeing the U.S. women's teams win multiple medals in the sport for the first time since 2012.  

But there's unique reasons to believe this success will be sustained, if not strengthened. For the first time, every member of this U.S. team rose to the national level after playing for a college beach volleyball program and competing for — and at times dominating — NCAA championships. Even more, both Olympics squads were also collegiate tandems, taking their successful pairings directly from the college court to the Olympic sand. 

It's made college sports a training ground for beach volleyball on a scale never seen in the United States. 

"The USA in general is just pumping out beach volleyball players — fantastic beach volleyball players," said Taryn Kloth, part of the world's second-ranked beach volleyball team with former LSU teammate Kristen Nuss. "And then, the competition (in college) is raising the level because you have to get better. So playing against very solid players, especially throughout college — and then going into the pros — it's just, it's a whole new game." 

The U.S. certainly hasn't lacked talent in beach volleyball. In fact, it's been exceptional — and at times dominant — with names that are now legendary. 

First came the dominating tandem of Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor, who brought home the first three U.S. gold medals from 2004 to 2012. In winning their final gold medal, Jennings and May-Treanor defeated fellow Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross, who took silver in London. Jennings then paired with Ross to win bronze in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. In 2021 in Tokyo, Ross and Alix Klineman teamed up to take home the gold. 

But the development opportunities in the U.S. weren't set up to scale the talent of future generations. Unlike indoor women's volleyball, which had 762 schools and 9,934 athletes competing in the NCAA alone the year beach volleyball debuted at the Barcelona Games, only a handful of colleges and universities fielded beach volleyball teams, mostly at the club level. 

By the late 2000s, the growth of collegiate volleyball was slowing. After adding 238 programs during the 1990s — a 33% growth rate — only 48 programs were started in all three NCAA Divisions from 2000 to 2009. In response, the American Volleyball Coaches Association started promoting the concept of collegiate beach volleyball. Pepperdine, Long Beach State and Florida State were among the first, and the NCAA added beach volleyball to its Emerging Sports for Women program in 2012. The strategic initiative was designed to expand athletic opportunities by identifying and supporting sports with the potential to grow into fully recognized NCAA sports. 

Rowing and women's ice hockey are examples of sports that got their foothold in the NCAA through the program. Some sports, once in the program, take longer than others to meet the minimum 40 schools required to sponsor a sport before it can be considered for an NCAA championship. Triathlon entered the program in 2014 and is near the 40-schools threshold a decade later. 

Beach volleyball needed just three years. 

As soon as the sport entered the program, the number of schools and athletes competing in it took off. From 14 schools and 204 athletes in 2012, participation more than tripled by 2015, and the sport held its first championship a year later. That year, Hughes and Cheng took home the first of back-to-back NCAA championships. The sport's growth only accelerated. In 2023, there were 91 programs and 1,615 athletes competing in beach volleyball. 

"It's increasing the number of athletes, young women, that are participating in the sport," Sean Scott, USA Volleyball's director of beach volleyball, said of the college game's impact. "And then, as a result, you're more likely to find the next Taryn, Kristen, Sarah, Kelly. … When you put on an NCAA championship, or a major competition like that, that everyone's shooting for, and then you're bringing the best of the best together to compete against that, the level is only going to rise year over year. Because the athletes, the coaches, everyone's going to try to get better." 

And it's starting to show on the international stage. 

First there's Nuss and Kloth, an unlikely pairing from LSU who have dominated on the international circuit, defeating Tokyo silver medalists Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia while rising to No. 2 in the world. 

After starting her college career in indoor volleyball at Creighton, earning All-America honors in 2016 and 2018 and being named MVP of the Big East championship as a junior, the 6-foot-4 Kloth took a leap of faith as a graduate transfer by moving on to LSU to play beach volleyball. She'd never played the game before their first practices and was embarrassed when most of her first serves went into the net.  

But once she started training with the quick and nimble 5-foot-6 Nuss during the COVID-19 shutdown, the pair became unstoppable. In 2021, they went 36-0 and won 32 of their matches in straight sets. 

The chemistry developed during that collegiate onslaught has carried with them to the international circuit — and now to within reach of a medal. 

 "And not just on the court; she's like my sister," Nuss said of their tight bond. "I don't have a sister, and she's kinda taken that role. We genuinely enjoy spending time together. We just like having fun. So when you have that off the court, it's just kind of perfect on the court. It works. We definitely trust each other." 

Hughes and Cheng feel similarly. 

After going 147-4 in their three years together at Southern California, during which Cheng was named national player of the year twice and Hughes received three of her four career All-America honors, the pair tried taking individual professional paths for a time before reuniting in 2022. 

They realized the chemistry they'd developed on the college court was the engine of their success. It showed when they came back together, immediately winning a World Tour title in 2022 and the world championship last year. 

Now, they are in Paris and have the world's No. 4 ranking. 

"It's more than the volleyball," Cheng said about the chemistry they developed at Southern California. "I think you can develop the skills, but the chemistry piece, it's harder to develop. So being able to have that with Sarah, it just makes sense." 

And now, the four former college athletes are the new faces of American beach volleyball. Each went 3-0 in pool play, dropping just one set in those six matches. There's a good chance that one — maybe even both — teams will bring home medals next week.  

But to get there, they'll need to get past each other in a potential semifinal matchup. It will be an event sure to draw attention, perhaps with a prime-time broadcast where the glow of the Eiffel Tower and the energized crowd will add additional luster to inspire a new generation of players. 

And that generation is already coming — larger than ever before. 

According to Volleyball Life — which manages registrations for youth events — more than 60,000 teens are playing beach volleyball today. It's a talent pool of young women unlike anything that existed when Jennings and May-Treanor brought home their first gold medal. It's a generation of athletes honing their beach-specific skills earlier than ever before, aiming for college scholarships — and, for some, to become the next Kloth, Nuss, Hughes or Cheng.