Women’s Beach Volleyball | July 11, 2022
HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. – USC beach volleyball All-American Terese Cannon (Pittsford, N.Y.) and partner Sarah Sponcil claimed their first-career AVP titles as winners of the AVP Pro Series Hermosa Beach Open on Sunday, July 10.
As the top-seeded pair, Cannon and Sponcil went 5-0 and dropped just two sets all weekend. The duo defeated the second-seeded team of Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint, 21-12, 21-15, in the championship match. Cheng—formerly Kelly Claes—is a three-time USC All-American and won the New Orleans Open with Flint several weeks ago.
Cannon’s victory represents the 62nd individual Trojan AVP women’s win; the 48th event won by at least one female USC athlete. Between Cannon, Cheng, and USC All-Americans April Ross, and Sara Hughes, at least one USC player has won 34 of the last 54 AVP events since the 2014 season. It is only the third time that a USC alumna and UCLA alumna have teamed up to win an AVP event. Previously, Ross and Lauren Fendrick did it twice (2015 Huntington Beach Championships, 2017 New York City Open).
FIRST TIME AVP CHAMPIONS: Sarah Sponcil and Terese Cannon! 🏆🏆🏆
Watch the incredible play that won the 1 seed the Pro Series Hermosa Beach Open. #AVP2022 #NoHoldingBack pic.twitter.com/yTSMntyY6M
— AVP (@avpbeach) July 10, 2022
Cannon-Sponcil opened the weekend by taking down the 16th-seeded pair of Heather Friesen and Agnieszka Pregowska, 21-12, 21-14, in the opening round. They then had to fight off a stiff test from eighth-seeded Jessica Gaffney and Molly Turner in the second round to advance on a 21-19, 21-23, 15-9 win. Cannon and Sponcil needed just two sets to get by the fifth-seeded duo of Fendrick and Zana Muno, 21-12, 21-18, to move into the semifinals. It took another marathon three-set match, but Cannon-Sponcil claimed a 24-22, 11-21, 17-15 win over the third-seeded tandem of Hughes and Kelley Kolinske.
Cannon, Cheng, and Hughes were three of eight USC beach volleyball alumnae to play in the Hermosa Beach Open, which accounted for a quarter of the 32 athletes in the tourney. Seeded seventh, All-American
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