USC Beach Volleyball Alumnae Cheng and Hughes Wins AVP Huntington Beach Open

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – USC beach volleyball All-Americans Kelly Cheng (Fullerton, Calif.) and Sara Hughes (Costa Mesa, Calif.) collected five wins and dropped just one set to claim the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) Pro Series Huntington Beach Open at the Huntington Beach Pier on Sunday, May 21.

It is the third AVP win for the USC duo since Cheng and Hughes reunited to finish the 2022 season and their fourth overall. They won their first AVP crown in 2017 at the Chicago Open and then claimed titles at the 2022 Huntington Beach Open and the 2023 New Orleans Open. Cheng collects her fifth-career AVP crown and Hughes takes home her seventh-career title.

The win by Cheng-Hughes represents the 72nd and 73rd individual Trojan AVP women's victories and is the 54th event won by at least one female USC athlete all-time. At least one USC alumna has now been crowned in 40 of the last 64 AVP events since the 2014 season.

Co-coached by seventh-year USC assistant coach Gustavo Rocha, Cheng and Hughes completed a 21-18, 21-18 win over the duo of Betsi Flint and USC All-American Julia Scoles (Mooresville, N.C.) in the championship match. It was the second time the pairs met each other on the weekend. Cheng-Hughes also defeated Flint-Scoles in the third round of play by a 21-14, 21-18 count.

As the top-seeded pair, Cheng-Hughes opened the tournament against Maddie Anderson and Molly Turner and raced through a 21-8, 21-11 win to move ahead. In the second round, the Trojan pair knocked off Larissa Maestrini and Liliane Maestrini, 21-16, 21-14, to reach round three against Flint-Scoles.

In their only three-set match, Cheng-Hughes took down USC All-American Terese Cannon (Pittsford, N.Y.) and her partner Sarah Sponcil, 21-19, 17-21, 23-21, to reach the championship match.

All-told, seven Women of Troy represented USC in the Huntington Beach main draw. Besides Cheng, Hughes, Cannon, and Scoles, All-Americans Megan Kraft(San Diego, Calif) and Hailey Harward (Phoenix, Ariz.), and Geena Urango (Los Alamitos, Calif.) were also participants. Scoles took second and Cannon earned a third-place finish. Kraft adds a seventh-place finish to her career numbers while Harward and Urango each earned ninth-place finishes.

On the men's side, USC men's volleyball alumnus Andy Benesh (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) teamed with Miles Partain to win his third-career AVP crown. Benesh also won titles in 2022 at the Austin Open with Phil Dalhausser and the Denver Open with Miles Evans. Benesh and Partain were the fifth seed in the men's field and took town the top-seeded tandem of USC alum Tri Bourne (Honolulu, Hawai'i) and partner Chaim Schalk in three sets, 20-22, 21-11, 15-12, in the championship match.

With Cheng-Hughes facing Scoles in the women's final and Benesh pitted against Bourne in the men's final, Trojans were guaranteed to capture both trophies at the Huntington Beach Open.

Under fourth-year head coach Dain Blanton, the USC beach volleyball team captured its third straight NCAA Championship (fifth NCAA title and sixth national title) in 2023. The Women of Troy finished the year ranked No. 1 and had an overall record of 32-5. USC added two more AVCA All-Americans to its history books with the third selection for Megan Kraft and the first-career honor for Delaynie Maple. Kraft was named the Pac-12's Player of the Year while she and Maple earned Pac-12 Pair of the Year laurels. Both were named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Team and were joined by Madison Shields and Madison White. Blanton finished his fourth season with a 105-15 career record and Gustavo Rocha was chosen as the AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year.

For more information on the USC beach volleyball team, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/beach. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @USCBeach.

Players Mentioned

Hailey Harward

Megan Kraft

Delaynie Maple

Julia Scoles

Madison White