Kloth-Nuss, Benesh-Partain lead USA contingent into Gstaad Elite16 winners brackets

Three USA women’s pairs and one men’s advanced to Saturday’s winners-bracket of the Volleyball World Gstaad Elite16.

Two teams await their opponents — Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth and Andy Benesh and Miles Partain — while the others need to win to get into the final eight.

Fifth-seeded Nuss and Kloth completed a 3-0 run through pool play with a 19-21, 21-13, 16-14 victory over 12th-seeded Brazilians Carol Salgado and Barbara Sexeis. That put them into Saturday’s second round.

Third-seeded Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes lost to Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann 18-21, 25-23, 15-11 to finish 2-1 in pool play. They’ll take on ninth-seeded Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti on Saturday.

And the red-hot team of Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles cooled a bit with a 21-13, 26-28, 15-12 loss to top-seeded Brazilians Duda Lisboa and Ana Patricia Silva. Flint and Scoles, seeded 16th after getting through the qualifier and winning their first two pool-play matches, play Carol and Barbara.

Gone from the women’s field are Sarah Sponcil and Terese Cannon, who went 0-3 in pool play.

The lone American men’s pair, ninth-seeded Benesh and Partain, finished 3-0 in pool play with a 21-11, 21-19 win over eighth-seeded Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen.
Nuss and Kloth and Benesh and Partain are already guaranteed of earning at least $8,000 per pair.

Saturday’s schedule

Women’s winners bracket
Round 1
Tina Graudina/Anastasija Samoilova Latvia (15, Q6) vs. Valentina Gottardi/Marta Menegatti Italy (13, Q2)
Katja Stam/Raisa Schoon Netherlands (6) vs. Mariafe Artacho/Taliqua Clancy Australia (2)
Julia Scoles/Betsi Flint United States (16, Q9) vs. Carol Salgado/Barbara Seixas Brazil (12)
Sara Hughes/Kelly Cheng United States (3) vs. Agatha Bednarczuk/Rebecca Cavalcanti Brazil (9)
Round 2
Ana Patricia Silva/Duda Lisboa Brazil (1) vs. TBA
Kristen Nuss/Taryn Kloth United States (5) vs. TBA
Svenja Muller/Cinja Tillmann Germany (14, Q4) vs. TBA
Melissa Humana-Paredes/Brandie Wilkerson Canada (7) vs. TBA

Men’s winners bracket
Round 1
Marco Krattiger/Florian Breer Switzerland (12) vs. Pedro Solberg/Guto Carvalhaes Brazil (11)
Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen Netherlands (8) vs. George Wanderley/Andre Loyola Brazil (7)
Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler Germany (5) vs. Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt Chile (10)
Anders Mol/Christian Sorum Norway (1) vs. Julian Horl/Alexander Horst Austria (14, Q7)
Round 2
Miles Partain/Andy Benesh United States (9) vs. TBA
Alex Ranghieri/Adrian Carambula Italy (4) vs.TBA
Michal Bryl/Bartosz Losiak Poland (6) vs. TBA
Cherif Samba/Ahmed Tijan Qatar (2) vs.TBA

VolleyballMag.com staff