Hostile was the expectation for the environment of Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes’ second match of pool play at these Paris Olympic Games. On Wednesday afternoon, Cheng and Hughes were matched up with France’s Aline Chamereau and Clemence Vieira, the home wild cards who would have the 12,000-strong French fans roaring with every kill, every block, every dig, every point.
It wasn’t hostile enough, as Cheng and Hughes won their second straight match with another sweep, 21-16, 23-21.
Perhaps due to the crowd, it was a much closer match than many may have expected. Chamereau and Vieira certainly provided a stronger test than the Czech Republic’s Bara Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova did on Sunday evening, when Cheng and Hughes won, 21-16, 21-11. By the technical timeout of the opening set, France led the Americans, 11-10.
It’s the latest the USA has trailed in a set in the Olympics.
It didn’t last long.
Cheng and Hughes scored three straight out of the timeout and sustained the momentum for a 6-1 run. The world-class defense that has Hughes No. 2 in digs for the tournament — behind only Kristen Nuss — provided a host of issues for Chamereau and Vieira, for if it wasn’t Hughes in the backcourt, it was Cheng at the net, piling up three blocks in all.
It was their defense, again, in the second set that prevailed. A choppy offensive performance at the outset put the USA down at the technical timeout again, this time 9-12. Just as they did in the opening set, they roared out of the timeout, pushing out to a 5-2 run to tie it at 14-14 with a massive Cheng block. A Hughes ace put the Americans up 15-14 for their first lead since 6-5 — yet France took it back at 17-16 after a Cheng shot went wide. It wouldn’t last long. Cheng wisely pulled off the net at 18-18, picking up a short shot from Vieira and converting to put the USA back in the lead, 19-18.
This time, it was a lead they’d maintain, and a match they’d finish with a Hughes dig and putaway and a Cheng block to cap it off, 23-21.
The win puts Cheng and Hughes at 2-0, and they are now tied for the top spot in Pool C with Germany’s Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann, who have also swept both the Czech Republic and France. They will meet one another in the final round of pool play on August 2, although there will be little on the line. Both Cheng and Hughes and Muller and Tillmann have clinched a berth into the round of…
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