USC volleyball players have Olympic dreams at Long Beach Grand Slam
Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes’ day didn’t end with a celebration, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t full of them.
The USC pair advanced to the round of 16 at the Long Beach Grand Slam on Friday, the farthest they’ve made it in a pro beach volleyball World Tour event. They did so by diving as often as they could, playing well above the net and screaming after every point they won. Then they ran into Brazilians Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes, one of the world’s best teams, and exited their first Grand Slam wearing frustrated smiles.
“We came here to play the world’s top competition,” said Hughes, a 21-year-old USC senior. “We always learn a lot whenever we play, and I think we learned a lot here.”
The brackets took shape Friday, with four pairs making the women’s semifinals and eight duos playing into the quarterfinals on the men’s side. Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross, the top U.S. women’s team coming off a bronze medal in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, will face Germans Julie Sude and Chantal Laboureur in a semifinal Saturday. Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, the top U.S. men’s team and seeded first, will square off with Spain’s Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira in a quarterfinal.
Claes and Hughes — Orange County natives and back-to-back collegiate national champions — were looking for experience to build on for their final season at USC. They finished ninth out of 32 teams, and quickly pointed out an extra benefit.
“We got to skip classes, which wasn’t so bad,” Claes, 20, said through laughter. “I mean it was just syllabus week, so I think we’ll be able to catch up.”
This provided an accurate portrait of Claes and Hughes: Laser-focused on the sand, relentlessly goofy off it.
After beating Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Nina Betschart on Friday morning, they repeatedly interrupted each other while discussing the win and their future. Claes jokingly apologized for how hard her high-fives can get. Hughes insisted they showcase one of their many handshakes. They said that if the “Cupid Shuffle” came on the loudspeaker they’d both start dancing on the sand.
And no, it wouldn’t matter if a point was going on.
“In between passes,” Hughes assured, stone-faced. “Trust me.”
But they don’t actually mess around once a match starts.
The 6-foot-2 Claes uses her height to thrive at the net. Hughes, 5 feet 10 with trampoline-like leaping ability, throws her body around the court while playing defense.
Then there are the celebrations after each point. Claes yells, loudly and often. Hughes is more likely to furrow her brow, raise one fist in the air and sternly say “Let’s go” to her partner. When they beat Huberli and Betschart, they hopped around the court like two kids playing in a sandbox.
Underneath the accolades and Olympic ambition, that’s exactly what they are.
“We play better when we’re having fun,” Hughes said. “So that’s the way to go.”
Their week and summer ended with the straight-set loss to Franca and Antunes, a match that was always going to be a tall task for the 28th-seeded team.
Claes and Hughes aren’t shy about their goal of one day playing in the Olympics. They saw this tournament as a small step toward that. They recorded all the Rio matches and plan to watch them on repeat in the coming months. And then there’s the necklaces Claes’ mother gave them this past Valentine’s Day.
Hughes doesn’t wear hers during matches because the chain bothers her when she dives. Claes never takes hers off. Either way, the “Tokyo 2020” engraving on the tiny gold plates is the simplest way to explain where they want to go.
“That’s it,” Claes said, holding up her necklace. “That’s all it is.”
Follow Jesse Dougherty on Twitter @dougherty_jesse
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