Kelly Claes

Erik Shoji passes the ball into his head/Ed Chan, VBshots.com It was a challenging Sunday in Tokyo as three of the USA’s finest teams went down in defeat, one after another. First Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil lost their first...

Jordan Thompson and Justine Wong-Orantes collide while going for the tip/Ed Chan, VBshots.com The intensity level for USA Volleyball rose considerably Saturday at the Tokyo Olympics as the beach playoffs were set, the USA women not only got swept but...

Taylor Sander wipes the Russian block for a point/Ed Chan, VBshots.com Team Slaes — Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil — finished on a 6-0 run in the third set and won their first beach volleyball match of the Tokyo Olympics...

The USA women celebrate winning the 2016 bronze medal in Rio/FIVB photo These are the Sensory-Deprivation Olympics: No fans. No natural crowd noise. No touching.— Dave Sheinin, The Washington Post Ah, the sound of silence … One of the really cool...

Taylor Crabb, left, coach Rich Lambourne, and Jake Gibb at an FIVB tournament in 2019/FIVB photo More than a full day after VolleyballMag.com and most major news outlets reported it, and long after Taylor Crabb himself wrote about it on...

Sarah Sponcil bump sets Kelly Claes in elimination play in Gstaad Friday/FIVB photo The last two USA teams were eliminated Friday in the four-star FIVB Gstaad pro beach volleyball tournament, the last international competition before the Tokyo Olympics. Kelly Claes...

the USA’s Sarah Sponcil plays a ball at FIVB Gstaad/FIVB photo Only two American teams remain entering Friday’s FIVB Gstaad as Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil — who finally lost after winning their previous 13 FIVB matches — and Kelley...

April Ross, left, and Alix Klineman will face the Netherlands, Spain, and China in Tokyo pool play/FIVB photo The pools for the Tokyo Olympics beach volleyball tournament are set. Amidst a ceremonial backdrop that had the feel of a 1960s-style...

Brooke Sweat digs in the Sochi qualifier/FIVB photo With the qualifier completed, the stage is set for the penultimate Olympic beach volleyball qualifier, a four-star tournament in Sochi, Russia, and Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat got through into...

April Ross and Alix Klineman will take a well-deserved rest dduring the Sochi 4-star/FIVB photo A 33-month (!) journey is finally (mercifully?) coming to a close in a little over a month’s time as the beach volleyball fields for the...