103 straight match wins, 5-year gap and 90 minutes at Starbucks: How beach volleyball's Kelly Cheng & Sara Hughes returned to glory at Paris Olympics

Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes won the first round in the women's beach volleyball 2-0 ( 21-16, 21-11) at the Paris Olympics after a dominant display against the Czech Republic. The dynamic duo was one of the country's top college beach volleyball sensations and concluded their collegiate career with an unbeaten streak.

Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes played as a team ever since they were high school students and went on to team up once again as student-athletes at the University of Southern California (USC). After being partnered with different players initially, they played as a team a year later that went on to 103 matches consecutively for the University of Southern California.

The duo decided to pursue the sport professionally in 2017 and split in 2018 to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics with different partners. Sara Hughes spoke to Time Magazine about their split and revealed the decision behind the tough decision despite achieving so much success together.

“We needed more opportunities to grow as players. We were always together, and going into the wide world of the professional beach-volleyball scene, maybe we didn't know exactly what was needed to make it. So we came together and decided to go our own ways,” she said.

Kelly Cheng went on to partner with Sarah Sponcil while Sara Hughes partnered with Summer Ross for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes' decision to get back together as a team for the Paris Olympics

Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes - Team USA Welcome Experience Ahead of Paris 2024 - Source: Getty

Both Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes could not win any medals at the Tokyo Olympics as the former lost in the round of 16 whereas the latter failed to qualify after her partner sustained an injury. Five years after their split, Kelly Cheng reached out to Hughes and they met for coffee in California.

Hughes spoke to Time Magazine and revealed that the two spoke about their career goals in a 90-minute conversation and decided to take some time to finalize the decision to compete together in Paris.

“We talked through a lot of things. We talked about our goals and how we wanted to approach the rest of our careers. It all aligned “Four hours later, I called her and said, ‘Let’s do this', we’re winning a gold medal in Paris," she said.

The dynamic duo's first victory after coming back together as a team

The two players won their first title after coming back together as a team in October 2023 at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships held in Mexico. Hughes was elated by their performance and expressed a clear warning to all their competitors as they geared up for the Paris Olympics.

“It's kind of an ultimate combo coming back together. We needed to grow up. And that’s exactly what we did. That’s really fun for us to get on the same page," she said.

Kelly Cheng and Sara Huges will be competing next on July 31, 2024, against France's Aline Chamereau and Clémence Vieira in the preliminary rounds of women's beach volleyball at the Paris Olympics.