PARIS, France, August 6, 2024.- The U.S. women’s beach team of Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng finished fifth at the Paris Olympics after dropping their quarterfinal match to the Swiss combination of Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner, 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) on Tuesday. The 2023 world champions ended the Olympics with a 4-1 record.
Cheng finished the match with 17 points on 16 kills and a block, and Hughes totaled eight points on five kills and three aces. The U.S. scored on 12 opponent errors, while committing only seven, but could not overcome the margin in kills (26-21) and service aces (7-3). There were only three blocks in the match, two by the Swiss.
“I think we fought back so hard in the first,” Cheng said. “I think I made a few too many errors early on in the first but we came back and just one or two aces and the game is over, you know? I think similarly to the second, I whiffed two balls out and an ace down the middle again and the game is gone.”
The U.S. scored the first two points on a Cheng kill on a second ball, but Hüberli/Brunner took a 4-3 lead on a block and never trailed the remainder of the set. Another block gave the Swiss their first two-point lead. Two aces helped push the lead to four, 14-10. Hughes/Cheng scored four of the next five points to force a Swiss timeout.
An incredible play by Brunner put the Swiss back up by three points, 17-14. The teams exchanged the next four points before a fifth ace pulled the Swiss within one point of the set. A service error followed by a Hughes ace foiled two set points, but a crosscourt kill ended the opening set. Cheng recorded five kills with Hughes adding three kills and an ace.
Hüberli/Brunner led 5-4 in the second set before going on a 3-0 run that finished with a kill off a great dig. After a timeout, the U.S. scored the next two points on a service error and hitting error to pull within two points and head back to the better scoring side of the court with the wind in their faces.
Cheng scored three times to bring the U.S. within one point and then tied the match at 11-11, the first tie since early in the first set. Hüberli/Brunner regained the lead on a point in spite of two great digs from Hughes. After the U.S. tied it again at 12, Hughes served an ace and Cheng scored down the line to put the U.S. ahead by two points for the first time since it was 2-0 to start the match.
The Swiss called a timeout and scored the next two points, the second on their sixth ace of the match. An incredible dig by Brunner helped put the Swiss ahead, 17-16. A Cheng kill evened the score again. Leading 18-17, Brunner served her fourth ace to move back ahead by two points. A Cheng tip on a second ball made it 19-19, but the Swiss took the match on a pair of off-speed points. Cheng scored 11 points on 10 kills and a block.
Hughes did her best to summarize her first Olympic experience after reaching its conclusion in the quarterfinal.
“[Feeling] all the emotions,” said Hughes. “Grateful to be here. Letdown that we didn’t come out with the win, but also proud of the fight that we gave. I feel like we also have so much left in the tank and so much more to give. You know sometimes in sports it just doesn’t go your way, but we fought as hard as we could.”
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