Exciting young pair made their debut together for the 2018 season and had a mid-summer breakout by winning the Moscow 4-Star FIVB Tour event in August, demonstrating that U.S. beach volleyball success can come from players other than Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross.
They had a strong showing at the 2019 World Championships, where they ultimately lost to fellow Americans Klineman and Ross in the quarterfinals. Both have been standouts on the beach since they were teenagers. At the time of the Tokyo Games, the California natives will be just 25 (Hughes) and 27 (Ross) years old. Neither has competed in an Olympics.
Visit Summer's Team USA profile
| Sara Hughes | Summer Ross | |
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Beach Volleyball | Beach Volleyball |
| Height | 5'10" | 6'2" |
| Date of Birth | February 14, 1995 | December 20, 1992 |
| Hometown | Costa Mesa, CA | San Diego, CA |
| Current Residence | Costa Mesa, CA | Carlsbad, CA |
| Trivia |
Sara comes from a family of volleyball players as her mother was a former player. Her brother, Connor was a two-time NCAA champion at UC Irvine where he was named tournament MVP and sister Lauren played at Fairfield. |
In 2010, Summer was the first person to win the FIVB Youth U-19 and Junior U-21 world championships in the same year. She went on to win the USA Volleyball Beach Female Athlete of the Year that year. |
