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Sara Hughes
American beach volleyball player (born 1995) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sara Elizabeth Hughes (born February 14, 1995)[4] is an American beach volleyball player. With teammate Kelly Cheng, she achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in August 2023. Hughes has won six tournaments on the AVP Pro Tour and seven gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals on the FIVB World Tour/Pro Beach Tour.
![]() Hughes at the 2017 Beach Volleyball World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Sara Elizabeth Hughes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1995-02-14) February 14, 1995 (age 29) Long Beach, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Southern California | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years active | 2011–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Beach volleyball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | USC Trojans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Pac-12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turned pro | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Partner | Kelly Cheng (2022–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former partners |
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Coached by | José Loiola (2016–)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest world ranking | No. 2 (August 23, 2023) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hughes began her beach volleyball training in Huntington Beach, California, at the age of eight. As a junior, she partnered with Kelly Claes to win bronze medals at the 2013 U19 and 2014 U21 World Championships. Her partnership with Claes continued through college, where the pair won 103 consecutive collegiate matches and led the USC Trojans to back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2017. Soon after turning professional in mid-2017, Hughes and Claes became the youngest team to win an AVP event when they won the season-ending Championship. Hughes split from Claes in early 2018 and teamed up with Summer Ross. In their first year playing together, Hughes and S. Ross won their first World Tour title and entered the top ten of the world rankings. Hughes re-partnered with Cheng (née Claes) in late 2022, winning several Beach Pro Tour events including the Finals in Doha in January 2023.[5]
Hughes is a right-side defender and has been noted for her speed and willingness to chase down balls. She is the 2017 FIVB Top Rookie.