Swiss bury U.S. women's volleyball hopes in sand

PARIS — No more American women left in the beach volleyball field at the Paris Games. No more hope of the U.S. women bringing a gold medal back to the sport’s birthplace for the fifth time in six Olympics.

Switzerland ousted Americans Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes on Tuesday night, a day after the other U.S. women’s team of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth and American men Chase Budinger and Miles Evans were defeated at Eiffel Tower Stadium.

Only the last remaining U.S. men’s team of Andy Benesh and Miles Partain stands in the way of the first American medal shutout since the sport that was conceived on the coasts of Hawaii and California joined the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996.

“I so appreciate and I’ve loved to see the legacy of the United States and beach volleyball, and would have loved to continue that legacy,” Cheng, who made it one round farther than she did in Tokyo, said. “It wasn’t our time.”

Switzerland’s Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli beat the Americans 21-18, 21-19 to advance to the semifinals, winning one point in a back-and-forth second set when Brunner made a kick save with her left foot. When the two arrived in the mix zone, the point was playing on the nearby TV, and they stood there smiling as they watched the replay.

“We had to enjoy this one again,” Hüberli said.

In the other women’s quarterfinal on Tuesday night, Australians Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy beat the Swiss team of Esmée Böbner and Zoe Verge-Depre in a tight three-setter, 21-19, 16-21, 15-12.

The Aussies are the defending silver medalists, having lost to Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman in the Tokyo final.

“Look, it definitely stung,” Clancy said. “But we don’t even look back.”

In the men’s matches, top-ranked David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden jump-set their way into the semifinals, beating Evandro and Arthur of Brazil 21-17, 21-16. Germany beat the Netherlands in straight sets to reach the final four, where one win guarantees a gold or silver medal — and even a loss leaves open the chance for the bronze.

“We were quite nervous, but I screamed everything out, every ‘nervosity’ — is that a word?” the 6-foot-11 German Nils Ehlers said after he and Clemens Wickler won 22-20, 21-15. “I was very nervous, for sure. It’s amazing to play here in front of this crowd, and I’m so happy that we have the chance to play two times more.”

Only traditional beach volleyball powers Brazil and the United States, along with host France, placed the maximum allowed two teams in each of the men’s and women’s brackets. Benesh and Partain are the only Americans left; they play Qatar, the Tokyo bronze medalists, in the second set of quarterfinals on Wednesday.

None of the French teams made it out of the group stage.

Brazil’s loss means the sport’s spiritual home will not win a men’s medal for the second straight Olympics. The Brazilian men took gold in Rio de Janeiro and Athens and three other medals in between.

“The levels are getting better each time. Everyone is investing in the sport. A lot of people came to Brazil to study beach volleyball,” Evandro said, noting that of the 24 teams in the men’s field, 23 of them had won on the world tour. “Today there are no favorites in this game. We are talking about an Olympics, everyone can lose and everyone can win. The level today is really hard.”

Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Duda Lisboa play Latvia on Wednesday, hoping to avoid Brazil’s second shutout ever — and second in a row.