And she keeps the medal hope alive. It was a tough match for Sara Hughes, who went against Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi. Hughes and her partner Kelly Cheng grabbed a win during the 3-set match at the Eiffel Tower stadium. While Menegatti and Gottardi did start strong with an 8-8 game, Team US managed to secure four back-to-back points to grab a lead.

The win takes Team US to the quarterfinal. After the match, Hughes had some words to say about how they grabbed the bag. “We just had to play our best volleyball,” she mentioned. Hughes and her partner Cheng are now 4-0 at the Paris Olympics, and they are eyeing the gold. But before that, let us tell you everything you need to know about the player who gave us the 3-set thriller, Sara Hughes.

Sara Hughes and her early life and family

Born to Rory and Laura Hughes, Sara had volleyball written in her destiny. Laura was a former volleyball player, and Sara’s older brother Connor also had 2 NCAA men’s volleyball wins under his belt. However, her career kicked off again when he was visiting one of the practice sessions her siblings were at. Sara somehow managed to impress a different player’s parent with her peppering and was then recommended to local coach Billy Lovelace. As per Lovelace, Sara had solid control of the ball despite being just 8 years old back then.

Her main training under Lovelace started when she was 15. Going on to grab multiple tournament wins as an amazing junior beach volleyball athlete. Back in school, Sara was paired up with Justine Wong-Orantes. Partnered for 8 long years, both players went on to finish 9th at the U19 World Championship back in 2012. She was the blocker while he was paired with Wong-Orante; however, after she was paired up with Kelly Claes, Sara turned to defending. “It has definitely been a big adjustment,” Sara had recalled. Still, after she got behind Claes and finally started focusing on the defenses, she fell in love with it. 

Barry Faulkner from Daily Pilot perfectly captured Sara’s junior years. As per him, she was the “American Queen of the Beach.” Sara went on to place 4th at the U21 World Championship. However, during the 2013 U19 and 2014 U21, Sara went on to win 2 bronze medals along with her partner, Claes. If you thought her junior year was good, wait till you hear about her college career.

College career and wins

Sara started off her college year with a blast. Often regarded as a top high school recruit, Sara joined the Trojans. She went on to focus on outdoor volleyball only because “sand was [her] real passion.” Sara joined up with Kirby Burnham and went on to win the AVCA Pairs championship. Not only that, the duo went 42 wins with only 4 losses. After being paired with Claes again, Sara went on to make history for the Trojans. The duo grabbed the first-ever NCAA championship win for the Trojans in 2016. It didn’t stop there. The duo also went on to win the second NCAA title in 2017 as well.

As seniors, Sara and Claes were also regarded as “Pair of the Year” after their Pac-12 pairs championship. When Sara finally turned to her professional career, things got even better. She went on to grab six AVP Pro Tour wins along with FIVB World Tour medals. In 2018, she was also regarded as the AVP Best Defender. And now here she stands. With 4 wins already under her belt, Sara and her partner Cheng have reached the quarterfinal. It looks like the dream to grab gold is about to come true soon.