Taliqua Clancy’s athleticism was in display at its best during the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Hamburg 2019 presented by comdirect as the Australian topped the ranking in several different elements of the game at the Red Bull Beach Arena.
The 27-year-old Kingaroy-native was the best scorer of the tournament, putting the ball in the sand 172 times on her bronze medal campaign with partner Mariafe Artacho. Switzerland’s Tanja Hüberli was second, with 167, and recently-crowned world champion Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada ranked third with 164.
Taliqua was also the most effective player in the entire tournament from the service line. The Aussie scored a fantastic 26 aces during her eight games, including three in the bronze medal match. Other top-ranked servers were USA’s Alix Klineman, with 21 aces, and Melissa, with 19.
The Australian also used her vertical to her advantage as, according to the tournament’s innovation partner comdirect, the Rio 2016 Olympian had both the highest block of the event, at 3.03m, and also the highest spike, at 3.02m. She beat Klineman (3.02m) and Germany’s Maggie Kozuch (3m) in the first category and Canada’s Sarah Pavan (3.01m) and Klineman (2.99m) in the second.
