Sara Hughes-Summer Ross Team to Claim First-Career FIVB Gold Medals

MOSCOW, Russia – Four-time USC beach volleyball All-American Sara Hughes and partner Summer Ross (Pepperdine) cemented themselves in the international ranks as gold-medal winners at the FIVB's (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) World Tour four-star Moscow event at Gorky Park on Sunday, Aug. 12. The duo has also claimed a pair of AVP (American Volleyball Professionals) titles this summer (New York City Open and Hermosa Beach Open).

In a thrilling gold-medal match, Hughes-Ross took down the world's top-ranked Brazilian pair of Agatha Bednarcuk and Eduarda (Duda) Santos Lisboa; better known simply as Agatha and Duda. The Americans won the first set, 21-19, but struggled mightily in the second as the Brazilians won, 21-12, to force a third. Tied at eight-all in the third, Hughes and Ross stepped in front and maintained a stronghold on the lead en route to a 15-12 win.

Hughes-Ross advanced into the final by taking down the sixth-ranked German duo of Chantal Labourer and Julia Sude in the semifinals. It took a hard-fought 23-21 win in the first set, but the Americans walked away with the 2-0 win on a 21-14 win in the second set. Hughes and Ross faced off against fellow U.S. pair of three-time USC All-American April Ross and Alix Klineman in the quarterfinal round and claimed a straight-set win, 21-18, 21-19.

It wasn't all smooth sailing for Hughes and Ross, who dropped their opening match in pool play to Laura Bloem and Jolien Sinnema of the Netherlands, 21-19, 21-16. Undeterred, Hughes-Ross earned a spot in the elimination rounds by routing the Ukranian duo of Valentyna Davidova and Ievgeniia Shchypkova, 21-15, 21-14, in their second match.

In the knockout stages, Hughes-Ross opened with a 21-12, 21-12 win over the Slovakian tandem of Natalia Dubovcova and Andrea Strbova. In the round of 16, they needed three sets to take down Brazilians Maria Clara and Eliza Maia; but moved ahead to the quarterfinals on the strength of an 11-21, 21-13, 15-13 win.

In addition to Hughes, the champion, and April Ross, whose run ended in the quarterfinals, sophomore Trojan Tina Graudina also played in the Moscow World Tour event. Representing Latvia, Graudina and partner Anastasija Kravcenoka split matches in pool play but were eliminated in the first round of the knockout stages. Graudina-Kavcenoka finished in a 17th-place tie in Moscow, but have had three ninth-place finishes in FIVB events this summer (Switzerland, Australia, and Portugal).

This past spring, the Women of Troy (27-14) finished as the runner-up at the Pac-12 Championship and were chosen as one of two at-large selections into the 2018 NCAA Championship. The Trojans advanced to the Saturday final at the championship and finished in fourth place. Seventh-year head coach Anna Collier collected her 170th victory this season. Abril Bustamante and Graudina were named AVCA All-Americans and were chosen as the Volleyball Magazine National Pair of the Year.

For more information on the three-time national champion USC beach volleyball team and a complete schedule, please visit USCTrojans.com and follow @USCBeach on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Players Mentioned

Abril Bustamante

Tina Graudina

Sara Hughes