Women’s Beach Volleyball | August 03, 2024
PARIS, France – USC beach volleyball All-Americans Sara Hughes (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei HS) and Kelly Cheng (Fullerton, Calif./El Dorado HS), Tina Graudina (Jurmala, Latvia) and men’s volleyball alum Andy Benesh (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) have each advanced to the knockout rounds of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament.
Co-coached by USC associate head coach Gustavo Rocha and one of two U.S. women’s pairs, Cheng-Hughes went 3-0 and didn’t drop a set to finish atop Group C in pool play. The duo defeated the Czech pair of Barbora Hermannová and Marie-Sára Štochlová, 21-16, 21-11, to open their run at Eiffel Tower Stadium. Cheng and Hughes improved to 2-0 with a 21-16, 23-21 win over France’s Aline Chamereau and Clémence Vieira. Cheng-Hughes topped off pool play by defeating Germany’s Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann, 21-18, 21-18.
Up next, Cheng and Hughes will take on the world’s 12th-ranked pair of Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti of Italy in the round of 16 on Sunday, Aug. 4, at 1 p.m. PT.
Graudina and partner Anastasija Samoilova went 2-1 to finish second in Pool D. Representing Latvia, Graudina-Samoilova fell to Switzerland’s Esmée Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré, 21-15, 21-14, in their first match. The Latvian duo bounced back to get a 21-19, 21-15 win over Paraguay’s Giuliana Poletti and Michelle Valiente; and then claimed a resounding 21-14, 22-20 win over Canada’s pair of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson—the world’s eighth-ranked pair—to secure a spot in the knockout rounds.
Graudina-Samoilova will now face Müller and Tillmann in their round of 16 match on Sunday (Aug. 5) at midnight PT.
In the men’s tournament, Benesh and partner Miles Partain finished 2-1 in Pool D for second place. The American duo began with a narrow straight-set loss, 21-18, 21-18, to the Cuban pair of Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz, but responded with a 21-12, 28-26 win over Morocco’s Mohammed Abicha and Zouheir Elgraoui. In a pivotal third match, Benesh-Partain sealed their spot in the knockout rounds with a…
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