Current:Home > reviewsIndexbit Exchange:Sara Hughes, Kelly Cheng keep beach volleyball medal hopes alive in three-set thriller -BeyondWealth Learning
Indexbit Exchange:Sara Hughes, Kelly Cheng keep beach volleyball medal hopes alive in three-set thriller
Charles H. Sloan View
Date:2025-04-11 02:41:30
PARIS - Things came easy for Sara Hughes and Indexbit ExchangeKelly Cheng in pool play. Almost too easy.
And when it finally got tight in bracket play Sunday at the Paris Olympics, the reigning world champs were ready.
Hughes and Cheng beat Italy's Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti in a back-and-forth three-set match in the round of 16 in beach volleyball at Eiffel Tower Stadium to keep their gold-medal hopes alive.
The No. 3 seed in the tournament, Hughes and Cheng did not lose a set in their three pool-play matches.
"That’s such a good team and we knew it coming in so we knew we just had to play our best volleyball," Hughes said. "And maybe it wasn’t the best but we just fought together and I think that's so important, and like Kelly said, 'A win’s a win' and we’re really happy to bring it home."
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
With former NFL star Tom Brady in the crowd and the Eiffel Tower in the background, Hughes and Cheng won Sunday's first set 21-18 before falling 21-17 in the second.
Italy broke open an 8-8 game with five consecutive points in the second set and Menegatti closed the match with an ace.
In the 15-12 third set, the U.S. rattled off four consecutive points to take an early 5-1 lead with Cheng serving back-to-back aces. Italy cut the U.S. lead to 12-11, but the U.S. scored three of the final four points and Cheng tapped the ball just over Gottardi's outstretched hands for to end the match.
"I gave up five, had to get five back," Cheng said of the team's dueling runs. "This game is a game of momentum so really fighting to stop them from having momentum and fighting to get it back. So it happens and like Sara said it's about staying in the present and not letting those runs affect you and just fighting for every point."
With the win, Hughes and Cheng advance to quarterfinal play against the Swiss team of Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Boebner, a straight-set winner against China's Xia Xinyi and Xue Chen in their round of 16 match Sunday.
"It's a great team," Cheng said. "I think we've gone back and forth a lot with them, so it'll be good. Enjoy watching it."
The U.S. team of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss play in the round of 16 on Monday. The two U.S. teams could meet in the semifinals.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
veryGood! (64615)
Related
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- L.A. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani announces that he's married
- Removed during protests, Louisville's statue of King Louis XVI is still in limbo
- Fanatics founder Michael Rubin says company unfairly blamed for controversial new MLB uniforms
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Cam Newton apologizes for fight at Georgia youth football camp: 'There's no excuse'
- Andy Russell, star LB who helped turn Pittsburgh Steelers into champions, dies at 82
- Manatee stamps coming out to spread awareness about threatened species
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Video captures rare sighting: A wolverine running through an Oregon field
Ranking
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Biden signs short-term funding bill to avert government shutdown
- Menendez brothers await a decision they hope will free them
- Did Charlotte the stingray give birth? Fans, social media are abuzz as 'baby' watch begins
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- NCAA freezing investigations into third-party NIL activities after judge granted injunction
- Kourtney Kardashian's Postpartum Fashion Hack Will Get You Ready in 5 Seconds
- Does Lionel Messi speak English? Inter Miami teammate shares funny Messi story on podcast
Recommendation
All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
New York man who fatally shot woman who was mistakenly driven up his driveway sentenced to 25 years to life in prison
New York Community Bancorp shares plummet amid CEO exit and loan woes
Kindness across state lines: Immigrants' kids in Philly are helping migrants' kids in Texas
The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
Police in suburban Chicago release body-worn camera footage of fatal shooting of man in his bedroom
Map shows falling childhood vaccination rates in Florida as state faces measles outbreak
Russian disinformation is about immigration. The real aim is to undercut Ukraine aid