Johnathan Walker:US women will be shut out of medals in beach volleyball as Hughes, Cheng fall to Swiss

PARIS — As the ball fell to the sand for the final point in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower Tuesday night,Johnathan Walker U.S. beach volleyball world champions Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng went down to their knees, not in joy, but in sadness. 

Their Olympics had ended much too soon. For the first time in 24 years, since the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the United States will be shut out of the medals in women’s beach volleyball after the Americans lost, 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) to the Swiss team of Tanja Huberli and Nina Brunner in the quarterfinals.

The other U.S. team, Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, lost in the round of 16 to Canada Monday.

“All the emotions,” Hughes said afterward, when asked about the loss, their first at these Games after a 4-0 start. “Grateful to be here, let down that we didn’t come out with a win, but also proud of the fight that we gave, but I feel like we also have so much left in the tank and so much more to give, so, you know, sometimes in sports it just doesn’t go your way.”

The Americans went ahead early in the first set but the Swiss soon built their lead to four, 14-10, never letting the U.S. gain momentum.

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“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 gosh we came back and just one or two aces and the game’s over.

“And I think similarly to the second, I whiffed two balls out and an ace down the middle again and the game’s gone. So it’s tough. They had their foot on the gas the whole time, and maybe we let up a bit too much, not intentionally but you know it happens. Wish we could have got a few more aces too.”

The United States briefly held the lead in a tight second set before the Swiss went on to victory.

“They’re an amazing team and they showed it,” Hughes said, “they were going after everything, a lot of things were going their way, but that’s just how it goes sometimes but we fought as hard as we could.”

Hughes and Cheng, who defeated Italy in a tense match Sunday, helped lead Southern California to the inaugural NCAA beach volleyball championship in 2016 and again in 2017, including an undefeated 36-0 season in 2016. 

They first played together as pros in 2017, but split to play with different partners ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, where Cheng was eliminated in the round of 16 playing with Sarah Sponcil. The American team of April Ross and Alix Klineman won the gold medal in Tokyo.

Hughes and Cheng got together again in 2022 and went on to win the 2023 world championship in Mexico, defeating Brazil. 

This was the first Olympics that both American teams came up through NCAA beach volleyball. 

“It’s been so meaningful,” Hughes said. “To see how much it’s growing and to see all the young girls loving to play beach volleyball is really special. And we try to be those people, those mentors, those idols for them so that they can grow up wanting to pursue beach volleyball like we are, so it is really special and we’ll just keep fighting to keep showing them they can pursue their dreams.”

Despite the loss, Hughes said their Olympic experience was unforgettable.

"It’s been surreal, to play in this iconic stadium for the first time, it’s like this is something we’ll never forget. We really tried to take in those moments.”

And next time, they get to play at home, in Los Angeles in 2028.

Said Hughes: “I can’t wait for that.”