Sara Elizabeth Hughes is an American beach volleyball player. With teammate Kelly Cheng she achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in August 2023. Hughes has won six tournaments on the AVP Pro Tour and seven gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals on the FIVB World Tour/Pro Beach Tour.
Hughes began her beach volleyball training in Huntington Beach, California, at the age of eight. As a junior, she partnered with Cheng to win bronze medals at the 2013 U19 and 2014 U21 World Championships. Her partnership with Cheng continued through college, where the pair won 103 consecutive collegiate matches and led the USC Trojans to back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2017. Soon after turning professional in mid-2017, Hughes and Cheng became the youngest team to win an AVP event when they won the season-ending Championship. Hughes split from Cheng in early 2018 and teamed up with Summer Ross. In their first year playing together, Hughes and Ross won their first World Tour title and entered the top ten of the world rankings. Hughes re-partnered with Cheng in late 2022, winning several Beach Pro Tour events including the Finals in Doha in January 2023.
Hughes is a right-side defender and has been noted for her speed and willingness to chase down balls. She is the 2017 FIVB Top Rookie.
Hughes was born in Long Beach, California, to Rory and Laura. She has an older brother, Connor, and an older sister, Lauren. Her mother is a former volleyball player and both her siblings played the sport in college, with Connor winning two NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championships with the UC Irvine Anteaters.
Growing up in Costa Mesa, California, in a volleyball-playing family, Hughes regularly attended her siblings’ practices and tournaments. During one such instance, a player’s parent was impressed by eight-year-old Hughes’ peppering and recommended her to local beach volleyball youth Coach Bill Lovelace. According to Hughes, she first came to love the sport when Lovelace praised her ball control as the best he had ever seen for an eight-year-old. After a successful tryout, she began training under Lovelace every summer in Huntington Beach until she was 15.
A standout junior beach volleyball player, Hughes won numerous tournaments on the Amateur Athletic Union and California Beach Volleyball Association circuits. From 2004 to 2012, she was mostly partnered with Justine Wong-Orantes, playing as a blocker. With Wong-Orantes, Hughes placed ninth at the 2011 and 2012 U19 World Championships. She also finished fourth at the 2012 U21 World Championships with Summer Ross.The following year, Hughes began playing with Kelly Claes and transitioned into a full-time defender. The duo won bronze medals at the 2013 U19 and 2014 U21 World Championships.
Hughes also played club indoor volleyball as the setter for Mizuno Long Beach, and was named most valuable player after her club won the 16-U Junior Olympics national championship in 2011. She played indoor volleyball for Mater Dei High School as well and was the Orange County Player of the Year as a senior.
Regarded as one of the top high school recruits for both beach and indoor, Hughes committed to playing beach volleyball for the USC Trojans in her junior year of high school. Beach volleyball had just become an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women at the time and Hughes decided to forgo collegiate indoor volleyball as “sand was real passion.”
Hughes joined the Trojans in the 2013–14 season, partnering with Kirby Burnham as the top-flight pair throughout her freshman year. The duo won the AVCA Pairs Championship and recorded 42 wins and 4 losses by the end the season. She was teamed with Claes as the Trojan’s top-flight pair for the next three seasons. As sophomores, Hughes and Claes won the AVCA Pairs title and led the Trojans to their first AVCA National Championship, completing the season with a 44–3 win–loss record. In their junior year, they won the inaugural Pac-12 Pairs Championship and were named the Pac-12 Pair of the Year. Women’s beach volleyball was also promoted to an NCAA Championship sport that year, and Hughes and Claes helped the Trojans win the first-ever NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, defeating the Florida State Seminoles’ top pair in straight sets in the finals. They ended the season with an undefeated 48–0 record and were selected to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Hughes and Claes capped off a dominant year by winning the 2016 World University Championships without dropping a set the entire tournament. As seniors, the duos repeated as Pac-12 Pairs Champions and were once again named Pair of Year. They led the Trojans to their second consecutive NCAA title, coming back from a first set loss in the finals to beat the top-flight duo from Pepperdine. Hughes and Claes completed their senior year with a 55–1 win–loss record, amassing an overall record of 147 wins and 4 losses in their three seasons together.
Between their sophomore and senior years, Hughes and Claes had a win streak of 103 collegiate matches, losing just seven sets during this run. Their streak began in April 2015 and was broken two years later in a three-set loss to a team from the Saint Mary’s Gaels. Hughes was named an AVCA Division I Collegiate Beach All-American in all her four years of college. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2017, and earned a Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation the following year
When Hughes and Claes were just starting to compete on the professional circuits, their biggest challenge was not being able to afford a coach. As their tournament results improved, the pair received more financial assistance from USA Volleyball and began working with Volleyball Hall of Fame inductee José Loiola. Hughes and new partner S. Ross continue to be coached by Loiola.
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking No. 2 (August 23, 2023)
Medal record
Women’s beach volleyball
Representing the United States
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Tlaxcala Beach
World Tour Finals
Gold medal – first place 2022 Doha Beach
World Tour
Gold medal – first place 2018 Moscow Beach
Gold medal – first place 2020 Siem Reap Beach
Gold medal – first place 2021 Rubavu Beach
Gold medal – first place 2022 Itapema Beach
Gold medal – first place 2022 Torquay Beach
Gold medal – first place 2022 Torquay Beach
Gold medal – first place 2023 Tepic Beach
Gold medal – first place 2024 Ostrava Beach
Silver medal – second place 2023 Gstaad Beach
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Espinho Beach
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Yangzhou Beach
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Itapema Beach
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Doha Beach
U21 World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Larnaka
U19 World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Porto
Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with Sara Hughes an exceptionally talented American Beach Volleyball Player and World Championships Gold Medalist, here she talks about her fitness routine, her diet, her beauty secrets and success story.
Full Interview is Continued on Next Page
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President of womenfitness.net, and should not be reproduced, copied, or hosted in part or in full anywhere without express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2026 Women Fitness
Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
