Episode 283 - Kristen Cruz (Nuss) from The Option

The Option

Jason Dibelius

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Episode 283 - Kristen Cruz (Nuss)

1 hour 11 minutes Posted May 11, 2026 at 12:00 am.

The past tournaments, the honor system on touch or net calls, what age did you start driving, her upcoming tournament with Lippmann from Germany

fan questions: serving strategy as the smaller player, was playing in front of your parents growing up a pressure cooker, how do you break down video (self, opponent), don't over-analyze things about a team that can change from one game to another, plus, what techniques are not up for compromise?

favorite country to play in, her type of set preference, when she wants to start a family, personalizing your work, dealing with a loss, when coaches should talk to players post-loss

why do some people leave hating the game, an examination of the juniors, college and professional perspective, the importance of letting juniors' players know that a competition club can be a safe zone, plus, the physical and mental adjustment made to prep from college to the pros

examples of games where you got blown away the first set and won the next two sets (shared stories), plus, saluting Kamila Tan (injured) and Madison Shields

What should AA players be spending more time on in practice and what do most spend too much time working on? Volleyball teams that are joined at the hip who play with other players

teams that she looks forward to playing against, plus the spread of women's beach, bicoastal and third coast, letting emotional sleeping tigers, sleep, international teams in the tournament, being fast starter in a league with games to 15, loving the Austin Aces, the idea of the "expansion drafts"

NOLA talent from the past: Zimmerman, Pete Nuss, Dale Davis, remaining fan questions, married life

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Kristen Cruz (Nuss) is an American professional beach volleyball player. A perfect 36-0 her senior year at LSU, she hit the ground running on the pro scene, winning multiple regional tournaments, her first Gold Series in Atlanta, her first FIVB in Australia, the first of many titles on the domestic and international scene, capping it off with her first Olympic appearance at the Paris games. Along with her partner Taryn Brasher, they are, to date, the number one team in the world.

This podcast was live where we took live questions, mixed in with our subject matter

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