Beach Volleyball: Hughes makes semis
SAN FRANCISCO — Costa Mesa resident Sara Hughes continued her impressive summer Saturday by advancing to the semifinals of the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals San Francisco Open.
Hughes, paired with fellow USC All-American Kelly Claes as the No. 13 seed, have won six of seven matches in the tournament. Their only loss was to top-seeded April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings, 17-21, 21-18, 17-15, in a 54-minute battle on Saturday.
Hughes and Claes, who matched their best AVP finish by placing third last week at the New York Open, and who teamed to help USC win the inaugural NCAA beach volleyball team title in May, defeated Ali McCulloch and Kelly Reeves, 21-14, 21-18, in the contender’s bracket to advance to Sunday’s semifinal.
Hughes and Claes will meet No. 2-seeded Lane Carico and Summer Ross in one semifinal.
The other semifinal will pit April Ross and Walsh Jennings against No. 5-seeded Emily Day and Brittany Hochevar.
The final will also be Sunday.
Hughes and Claes swept three matches, allowing 20, 20 and 15 points, respectively, in contests that never exceeded 30 minutes, to win qualifying and advance to the main draw. They defeated the duo of Costa Mesa resident Jennifer Fopma and Jennifer Kessy, 21-13, 19-21, 15-11, in a 52-minute match to open winner’s bracket play.
Hughes and Claes defeated Day and Hochevar, 27-25, 21-15, in the second round of the winner’s bracket.
April Ross, a Costa Mesa resident and Newport Harbor High product who won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, and Walsh Jennings, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, are attempting to win their 11th consecutive AVP event in which they have played together. Ross has won the last five AVP events in which she has competed (with a variety of partners after Walsh Jennings was sidelined last season by a shoulder injury).
No. 4-seeded Fopma and Kessy finished seventh and split $3,800.
Former UC Irvine indoor standout Whitney Pavlik, who along with partner Sheila Shaw were seeded No. 12, finished 13th and will split $2,000.
In the men’s tournament, Newport Harbor graduate Ty Tramblie and Ryan Doherty, the No. 4 seed, lost in the contender’s bracket and settled for fifth place. They split $5,200.
Costa Mesa resident Brad Keenan and his partner Todd Rogers, the No. 8-seeded entry, finished ninth and split $2,500.
Former UCI teammates Connor Hughes, a Costa Mesa resident, and Travis Woloson won two of three qualifying matches and shared 17th place.
— Barry Faulkner
— Barry Faulkner