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Sara Hughes:
 
Sara Hughes
United States  
 
Vital Statistics
 

Photo: Ken Delgado
Birth Date February 14, 1995 (29 years old)
Home Town Costa Mesa, CA
Resides Costa Mesa, CA
Height 5'10"
College Southern California
  Best Finish Winnings
United States 1st (7 times) $189,675
   AVP 1st (7 times) $184,300
   Pro Beach 17th $375
   Bonus Money   $5,000
International 1st (9 times) $336,945
   FIVB 1st (9 times) $336,945
   FIVB AGWC 3rd (2 times) $0
NORCECA 1st (4 times) $8,275
   NORCECA 1st (4 times) $8,275
Other 3rd $7,000
   Other 3rd $7,000
Overall 1st (20 times) $541,952
 
Bio Bits

Beach Bits:
• In New York City in 2015, Hughes and Kelly Cheng became the lowest seeded team (#16) to ever reach the semifinals of an AVP tournament.
• In Chicago in 2017, Hughes and Kelly Cheng became the youngest team to ever win an AVP title. Hughes was 22 1/2 years old while Cheng was two weeks shy of turning 22.
• In the World Championships in June 2022 in Rome, Hughes had a play against Ecuador that went viral as she had six digs (falling to the sand five times) before she eventually got the kill to win the point.
• Entering the 2023 season, Hughes has a perfect 7-0 record in gold medal matches internationally.

2022: Hughes and Kelley Kolinske played seven times on the AVP Tour, winning in Manhattan Beach and placing third four other times. Hughes reunited with Cheng for one AVP tournament, winning in Huntington Beach. Hughes and Kolinske played six tournaments on the World Tour, winning a gold medal in Brazil and advancing to other semifinal. Hughes and Cheng played three international events, winning all three.
2021: Hughes and Brandie Wilkerson played in all three AVP tournaments, finishing seventh and then fifth twice. Hughes ended the season ranked fifth in digs (6.36 per set) and sixth in kills (6.71 per set). Hughes and Emily Capers played in seven international tournaments, losing in the country quota five times before finishing 25th and then winning in Rwanda. Hughes then concluded the international season with a ninth place with Megan Kraft and a bronze medal alongside Terese Cannon.
2020: Hughes and Brandie Wilkerson played in all three AVP tournaments, placing second, third and fifth. Hughes played three times on the FIVB Tour with three different partners. She placed ninth with Summer Ross, 25th with Terese Cannon and won a gold medal in a two-star event alongside Lauren Fendrick.
2019: Hughes played six AVP tournaments with four different partners. She began the year with two events alongside Summer Ross, finishing third both times. After a 13th place with Abril Bustamante, Hughes and Brandie Wilkerson had a pair of third-place finishes. She ended the year with a ninth-place finish with Allie Wheeler. Hughes ranked eighth on the Tour in digs (5.27 per set). Hughes and Ross competed in nine FIVB tournaments, highlighted with a bronze medal and fourth-place finish in four-star events in China.
2018: Hughes and Summer Ross played four AVP tournaments together, reaching the finals each time and winning twice. The pair won its first 14 matches to begin its domestic partnership. Hughes ranked eighth on the AVP in digs (5.36 per set). On the FIVB Tour Hughes played twice with Kelly Cheng, finishing ninth both times. Hughes played 10 international events with Ross, winning a gold and a bronze in four-star events.
2017: Hughes and Cheng competed in four AVP tournaments, winning in the season finale in Chicago. Hughes ended the year ranked eighth in hitting percentage (.444) and 10th in digs (5.36 per set). Internationally Hughes played once with Lauren Fendrick, then six times with Cheng, getting a best of fifth place twice.
2016: Hughes and Cheng played twice on the AVP Tour, advancing from the qualifier both times, placing third and then second. In San Francisco the duo became just the second team to reach a championship match on the AVP Tour after playing in the qualifier. On the FIVB Tour they played two events with a best of ninth.
2015: Hughes and Cheng played in two AVP tournaments. In New York City, the duo advanced from the qualifier and despite losing in the first round, they advanced to the semifinals, placing third. They also finished ninth in the Manhattan Beach Open. Internationally the duo played once on the FIVB Tour, losing in the qualifier.
2014: Hughes played in three AVP events with three different partners, but did not advance from the qualifier in any of them. She and Kellie Woolever were fifth in the FIVB Under 23 World Championships in Poland, the she reunited with Cheng to win a bronze in the FIVB Under 21 World Championships in Cyprus.
2013: Hughes and Kelly Cheng won a bronze medal at the FIVB Under 19 World Championships in Portugal.
2012: Hughes and Wong-Orantes again finished ninth in the FIVB Under 19 World Championships in Cyprus. She paired with Summer Ross in the FIVB Under 21 World Championships in Canada, placing fourth.
2011: At age 16 Hughes and partner Justine Wong-Orantes placed ninth in the FIVB Under 19 World Championships in Croatia, the highest placement of a U.S. team at that event. She also competed in the FIVB Under 21 World Championships in Canada, playing with Caitlin Racich, but did not advance from the qualifier.

College: Hughes competed in sand volleyball at Southern Cal after becoming the first high school player to declare that she will play sand volleyball exclusively in college. Her freshman season she won the AVCA National Championship with partner Kirby Burnham, finishing with a 42-4 match mark including 28 straight wins. Hughes was named AVCA All-American that season (2014). As a sophomore she again won the AVCA National Championship, playing with Kelly Cheng. They finished 44-3, winning the last 25 matches of the season, and Hughes once against was named as an AVCA All-American. Hughes completed a perfect junior season, finishing 48-0 in matches and losing just one set with Cheng.  They won the National Championship again and for the third straight year Hughes as named AVCA All-American.

Personal: Hughes comes from a volleyball family, as her older brother Connor was a two-time NCAA Champion outside hitter at UC Irvine, and her older sister Lauren played volleyball at Fairfield. She is the daughter of Rory and Laura, a former volleyball player as well. Hughes was the 2010 AAU Beach Volleyball Player of the Year. A four-year letterwinner at Mater Dei High School as a setter and right side hitter, Hughes was chosen first-team all-league three times. In 2012 she was the All-Orange County Player of the Year and a Volleyball Magazine High School All-American second team.
 
 
Awards
 
  • AVP VolleyballMag.com Best Defensive Player 2018
  • AVP VolleyballMag.com Rookie of the Year 2017
  • FIVB Top Rookie 2017
 
Career Summary
 
United States
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 17th 21st 25th 33rd 41st CQ
2011 Pro Beach 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $375.00 72.0   0 1 0 0 0 0 0
2012 Pro Beach 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 25.0   0 0 0 1 0 0 0
2014 AVP 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 230.0 61st 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
2015 AVP 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 $5,000.00 420.0 42nd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2016 AVP 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 $8,500.00 590.0 38th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2017 AVP 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 $18,950.00 1,404.0 18th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2018 AVP 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 $33,875.00 1,476.0 13th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2019 AVP 6 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 $25,750.00 2,538.0 5th 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
2020 AVP 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 $17,500.00 0.0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021 AVP 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 $9,875.00 979.0 11th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 17th 21st 25th 33rd 41st CQ
2022 AVP 8 2 0 4 0 2 0 0 $42,850.00 7,696.0 13th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023 AVP 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 $27,000.00 4,526.0 35th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total
(Rank)
  41
(223rd)
7
(36th)
4 14 0 5 2 3 $189,675.00
(42nd)
19,956.0   1 2 1 1 1 0 0
 
International
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 17th 21st 25th 33rd 41st CQ
2011 FIVB AGWC 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 $0.00     0 0 0 1 0 0 0
2012 FIVB AGWC 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 $0.00     0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2012 FIVB 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2013 FIVB AGWC 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 $0.00 112.0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014 FIVB AGWC 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 $0.00 196.0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 FIVB 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 20.0 283rd 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2016 FIVB 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 $9,000.00 300.0 126th 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
2017 FIVB 7 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 $24,750.00 1,140.0 28th 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
2018 FIVB 12 1 0 1 0 3 1 4 $50,000.00 2,880.0 6th 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
2019 FIVB 9 0 0 1 1 1 0 4 $27,500.00 2,040.0 60th 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 17th 21st 25th 33rd 41st CQ
2020 FIVB 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 $4,000.00 470.0 11th 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
2021 FIVB 9 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 $8,377.25 740.0 70th 0 0 0 1 0 0 5
2022 FIVB 9 4 0 0 1 2 0 1 $121,750.00 3,170.0 14th 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023 FIVB 11 2 1 0 1 5 0 2 $84,625.00 4,520.0 7th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2024 FIVB 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 $7,000.00 500.0 5th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total
(Rank)
  72
(162nd)
9
(26th)
1 6 4 14 1 19 $337,002.25
(66th)
16,088.0   1 6 0 3 0 1 7
 
 
 
NORCECA
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 17th 21st 25th 33rd 41st CQ
2012 NORCECA 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 $0.00     0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2013 NORCECA 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 $1,500.00 100.0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014 NORCECA 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 $1,700.00 180.0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015 NORCECA 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 $2,075.00 100.0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2016 NORCECA 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 $3,000.00 200.0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total
(Rank)
  8
(115th)
4
(13th)
2 1 0 0 1 0 $8,275.00
(21st)
580.0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
Overall
Total
(Rank)
  122
(135th)
20
(26th)
7 22 4 19 4 22 $541,952.25
(50th)
36,624.0   2 8 1 4 1 1 7
 
Red denotes ranked 1st
 

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