| Kristen Nuss Cruz |
United States 
|
 |
| |
Photo: Ed Chan
|
| Birth Date |
December 16, 1997 (28 years old) |
| Home Town |
New Orlean, LA |
| Resides |
New Orleans, LA |
| Height |
5'6" |
| College |
Louisiana State |
| |
Best Finish |
Winnings |
| United States |
1st (9 times) |
$153,800 |
| AVP |
1st (9 times) |
$153,800 |
| International |
1st (11 times) |
$420,750 |
| FIVB |
1st (11 times) |
$420,750 |
| Other |
5th |
$0 |
| Other |
5th |
$0 |
| Overall |
1st (20 times) |
$574,550 |
|
|
Beach Bits: • Entering the 2026 season, Cruz has played with four different partners and all four were teammates with her at Louisiana State. • Entering the 2026 season, Cruz and Brasher have played in the title match in each of their last seven AVP events.
2025: Cruz and Brasher won all 10 matches and both titles in the only two AVP tournaments they competed in. They again competed for the Austin Aces in the AVP League, going 7-1 before losing in the semifinals of the League Championships. Cruz and Brasher played in eight international events, winning three golds, two silvers and one bronze. They won a silver medal in the World Championships in Australia. 2024: Cruz and Brasher played in the finals of all three AVP events, winning in Manhattan Beach for the first time in their careers. They ended the year with a 14-2 match record, with the only losses in the title matches by a 15-13 score in the third set. In the inaugural AVP League Cruz and Brasher competed for the Austin Aces and went 4-4 in matches. After a pair of ninths, the duo won a silver medal and a pair of golds leading into the 2024 Olympics in Paris where they were seeded second. They went 3-0 in pool play but finished ninth after losing to the eventual silver medalists. Cruz and Brasher ended the international season with another gold medal in the BPT Finals. 2023: Cruz and Brasher had a pair of thirds on the AVP Tour before winning the last two events they competed in. Internationally the duo played 12 times, winning eight medals including the last five of the season. One of their bronze medals came in the World Championships in Mexico. They won four gold medals, capping off the season with a title in the BPT Finals. 2022: Cruz and Taryn Brasher led the AVP Tour with three victories, winning the season opener as well as consecutive events in Chicago and Phoenix in the season championships. Of their 35 matches, 19 came against teams seeded fifth or higher. Cruz made her World Tour debut in a Futures event in Australia, where she and Brasher won a pair of qualification matches and went undefeated in winning the title. Cruz and Brasher again advanced from the qualifier and won a gold medal in Turkiye, and advanced to one other semifinal in their total of nine international events. 2021: Cruz played in all three AVP tournaments with Taryn Brasher, winning in their first event together in Atlanta after advancing from the qualifier. Cruz became the shortest player to win on the AVP Tour since 2001 (Barbra Fontana). The pair then placed fifth and third in the last two events. For the season they were 16-4 in matches, with all four losses coming to teams seeded first or second. Cruz was third on the Tour in digs (6.48 per set). 2020: Did not compete. 2019: Cruz and Claire Coppola lost in an AVP qualifier then finished 25th in Manhattan Beach. 2018: Cruz played in her first AVP main draw, finishing 17th with Claire Coppola in Hermosa Beach, then lost in the qualifier alongside Katie Dickens. Cruz and Coppola finished fifth in the FISU World University Championships in Germany. 2017: Cruz made her pro beach volleyball debut in New York, losing in the qualifier with Megan Davenport.
Olympics: • Qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics as the number two seed with Taryn Brasher. The duo went 3-0 in pool play but lost in the first round of bracket play to the eventual silver medalists Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes / Brandie Wilkerson and finished in ninth place.
College: Cruz played beach volleyball at Louisiana State, and as a freshman finished 27-7 playing alongside Claire Coppola mostly at the No. 1 position, including seven wins over top 10 teams. Her sophomore season Cruz and Coppola went 30-7 at the top position, with five wins against top-10 competition, and Cruz was 31-8 overall. Cruz and Coppola went 33-4 her junior season, then the duo finished 12-2 in a shortened senior campaign, as the pair became the third NCAA duo to eclipse 100 match wins (along with USC's Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes and UCLA's Megan and Nicole McNamara). In 2021 she and Taryn Brasher finished with a 36-0 match record, and she left the program with the career record in wins with 139 and her victory total was also the most in beach volleyball history.
Personal: Formerly Kristen Nuss, in January 2026 she married Trey Cruz. Her grandfather played professional baseball. Cruz has three older siblings, Pete, Jeffrey and Jordan. Cruz was chosen as the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year.
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| |
- AVP Best Defensive Player 2023
- AVP Most Valuable Player 2023
- AVP Team of the Year 2022 (Taryn Brasher), 2023 (Taryn Brasher)
- AVP VolleyballMag.com Best Defensive Player 2023
- AVP VolleyballMag.com Team of the Year 2022 (Taryn Brasher), 2023 (Taryn Brasher)
- FIVB VolleyballMag.com BPT Best Defensive Player 2023
|
| |
| 2017 |
AVP |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$0.00 |
60.0 |
224th |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| 2018 |
AVP |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$250.00 |
169.0 |
123rd |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 2019 |
AVP |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$325.00 |
202.0 |
140th |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 2021 |
AVP |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
$18,375.00 |
1,308.0 |
1st |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2022 |
AVP |
7 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
$45,350.00 |
6,892.5 |
22nd |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2023 |
AVP |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$36,000.00 |
4,562.0 |
33rd |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2024 |
AVP |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$31,000.00 |
3,730.0 |
13th |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2025 |
AVP |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$22,500.00 |
2,572.0 |
45th |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Total
(Rank) |
|
24
(399th) |
9
(32nd) |
3 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
$153,800.00
(51st) |
19,495.5 |
|
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| |
| 2022 |
FIVB |
9 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
$36,750.00 |
2,800.0 |
27th |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2023 |
FIVB |
12 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
$159,500.00 |
5,130.0 |
5th |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2024 |
FIVB |
7 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
$121,000.00 |
2,550.0 |
39th |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2025 |
FIVB |
8 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
$103,500.00 |
4,100.0 |
8th |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Total
(Rank) |
|
36
(426th) |
11
(23rd) |
5 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
0 |
6 |
$420,750.00
(51st) |
14,580.0 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Overall |
Total
(Rank) |
|
61
(425th) |
20
(29th) |
8 |
6 |
2 |
13 |
0 |
6 |
$574,550.00
(49th) |
34,135.5 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| |
| Red denotes ranked 1st |
| |
| 1 |
8/15/2021 |
AVP |
Atlanta |
Taryn Brasher |
14 |
$10,000 |
| 2 |
4/3/2022 |
FIVB |
Coolangatta |
Taryn Brasher |
16 |
$500 |
| 3 |
5/8/2022 |
AVP |
Austin |
Taryn Brasher |
6 |
$7,000 |
| 4 |
5/22/2022 |
FIVB |
Kusadasi |
Taryn Brasher |
20 |
$5,000 |
| 5 |
9/4/2022 |
AVP |
Chicago |
Taryn Brasher |
6 |
$15,000 |
| 6 |
9/24/2022 |
AVP |
Phoenix |
Taryn Brasher |
4 |
$7,500 |
| 7 |
3/19/2023 |
FIVB |
La Paz |
Taryn Brasher |
2 |
$5,000 |
| 8 |
4/30/2023 |
FIVB |
Uberlândia |
Taryn Brasher |
9 |
$15,000 |
| 9 |
8/6/2023 |
AVP |
Atlanta |
Taryn Brasher |
2 |
$15,000 |
| 10 |
9/3/2023 |
AVP |
Chicago |
Taryn Brasher |
1 |
$15,000 |
| 11 |
12/9/2023 |
FIVB |
Doha |
Taryn Brasher |
2 |
$75,000 |
| 12 |
5/26/2024 |
FIVB |
Espinho |
Taryn Brasher |
5 |
$15,000 |
| 13 |
7/7/2024 |
FIVB |
Gstaad |
Taryn Brasher |
3 |
$15,000 |
| 14 |
8/18/2024 |
AVP |
Manhattan Beach |
Taryn Brasher |
1 |
$15,000 |
| 15 |
12/7/2024 |
FIVB |
Doha |
Taryn Brasher |
6 |
$75,000 |
| 16 |
4/20/2025 |
FIVB |
Brasília |
Taryn Brasher |
2 |
$20,000 |
| 17 |
5/11/2025 |
AVP |
Huntington Beach |
Taryn Brasher |
1 |
$7,500 |
| 18 |
7/6/2025 |
FIVB |
Gstaad |
Taryn Brasher |
1 |
$20,000 |
| 19 |
8/17/2025 |
AVP |
Manhattan Beach |
Taryn Brasher |
1 |
$15,000 |
| 20 |
10/11/2025 |
FIVB |
Newport Beach |
Taryn Brasher |
1 |
$15,000 |
| |
| Taryn Brasher |
19 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
$153,225 |
19,064.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Claire Coppola |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$575 |
297.0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Megan Davenport |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
60.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Katie Dickens |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
74.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Total |
24 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
$153,800 |
19,495.5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| |
| Taryn Brasher |
36 |
11 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
0 |
6 |
$420,750 |
14,580.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
36 |
11 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
0 |
6 |
$420,750 |
14,580.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
| Taryn Brasher |
55 |
20 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
$573,975 |
33,644.5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Claire Coppola |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
$575 |
357.0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Megan Davenport |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
60.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Katie Dickens |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
74.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| |
| Total |
61 |
20 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
13 |
0 |
6 |
$574,550 |
34,135.5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| |
|
|
