Australian duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy have had to settle for silver after falling victim to a dominant US performance in the beach volleyball gold medal match.

The United States’ Alix Klineman and April Ross set the tone from the outset to snatch gold with a 21-15 21-16 victory and end the fairytale run from the Aussies at Shiokaze Park.

Some strong serving from Ross helped the US to a 7-2 opening to the match, and while the Australians settled, they couldn’t get within touching distance in the opening set.

The Aussie duo secured the first two points of the second set as they looked to bounce back, but the US pair was only just getting started.

MORE OLYMPICS:

• Live blog of Day 14
• What to watch at the Games today
• West Aussies in action on Day 14

Ross and Klineman reeled off an incredible 10 points in a row to set up the match-winning advantage, but not before one late charge from Artacho del Solar and Clancy.

The Australian pair hustled to reduce the gap to 16-13 to fuel hope of a late comeback, but it wasn’t to be.

The result marked Australia’s first medal in the sport since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst’s famous gold at Sydney 2000.

Cook was emotional watching the closing scenes of the loss on television.

“We did our best, we stuck in there, and we had a really good fight in the end,” Clancy said.

“I’m so proud of what we were able to achieve.

“It’s definitely not the colour we wanted, but after this stops stinging, we’ll really appreciate this moment more.”

The duo, who made their Olympic debuts at Rio 2016 with different partners, trailed a remarkable path to their gold-medal decider that included a quarter- final boilover against Canada’s reigning world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes.

Clancy, the first Indigenous player to represent Australia in the sport, grew up more than 200 kilometres from the ocean in rural Queensland.

Artacho del Solar, who was born in Peru and shifted to Sydney at age 11, and Clancy both cite Sydney 2000 as a pivotal moment in their life.

For Clancy, a proud Wulli Wulli and Goreng Goreng woman who excelled at athletics and netball before discovering indoor volleyball at high school, it was being glued to the TV for Cathy Freeman’s 400m triumph.

For Artacho del Solar it was an inspirational postcard, signed by Cook and Pottharst, sent to her family in Peru.

But the Australians were outgunned by Ross and Klineman in a rematch of the 2019 world championships semi-final.

- with AAP