Brasher and Nuss achieve their season goal with home victory in California
The Americans earned their third gold of the season in front of their home fans.
The first major international beach volleyball event held in the United States since 2018, this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Newport Beach Elite ended up being a celebration of the success of American women in the sport, with duos from the host country ranking first and second.
🥇 Taryn Brasher / Kristen Nuss (USA)
🥈 Julia Donlin / Lexy Denaburg (USA)
🥉 Duda Lisboa / Ana Patricia Ramos (Brazil)
The fans that followed the action in California got to cheer on winners Taryn Brasher and Kristen Nuss and runners-up Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg, who made it to the podium in front of their home crowd, joined by third-place finishers Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patricia Ramos of Brazil.
Watch the Beach Pro Tour Newport Beach Elite replays on VBTV
The path for a very successful tournament for American teams started to be paved on Tuesday, when four teams from the host country survived the qualifier, getting the United States nine of the 16 participating duos in the main draw.
Pushed by their fans, the home teams continued to progress over the week, accounting for five of the eight quarterfinalists and three of the four semifinalists. The last two American teams standing met in the final, and Brasher and Nuss triumphed, beating Donlin and Denaburg in straight sets, 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) to secure the title.
“Playing at home made us feel great,” Brasher remarked. “We were very comfortable and very excited to be playing at home. We were going to battle and do whatever it took in practice to win this one. We saw a lot of what we had been doing in practice work in matches this week, and that was great too.”
The victory in Newport Beach was a special one for Brasher and Nuss, who for the first time in their careers got to play in a Beach Pro Tour event in their home country and to win it. The two continue to have a very successful 2025 season, which now has five medals (three golds, one silver, one bronze) in seven Beach Pro Tour Elite events.
“Winning this one here in America is huge,” Nuss said. “But also, at the start of the year, we said we wanted to win three golds this season and we knew coming into this tournament that we would either get our goal for the year or we wouldn’t. So, we pushed for it.”
Duda and Ana Patricia win fifth-straight bronze
Olympic champions Duda and Ana Patricia Ramos also made their fifth podium appearance of the season in Newport Beach, but for them, it was the fifth bronze, all earned in consecutive tournaments.
The Brazilians avoided an all-American podium with a two-set, 2-0 (21-11, 21-12) victory over Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft in the third-place match.
“It was a great pleasure to play here,” Ana Patricia said. “We love playing in California, and I hope we can come back here for many, many years.”
Source: volleyballworld.com
