2017 World Series Of Beach Volleyball

Biggest Finish To Date For Kelly Claes And Sara Hughes

Biggest Finish To Date For Kelly Claes And Sara Hughes

Sara Hughes and Kelly Claes defeated Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany to win the bronze medal at the World Series of Beach Volleyball. April Ross and Lauren Fendrick won silver.

Jul 15, 2017 by Megan Kaplon
Biggest Finish To Date For Kelly Claes And Sara Hughes
With a 21-17, 21-14 defeat of Germany’s Kira Walkenhorst and Laura Ludwig in the bronze-medal match of the 2017 World Series of Beach Volleyball, recent college grads Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes took home their biggest winnings to date. The victory also brought the all-time record between the three-time NCAA beach volleyball champions and the reigning Olympic gold medalists to 2-0 in favor of the Americans.

Hughes and Claes’ only stumble in the event was their semifinal loss to April Ross and Lauren Fendrick. The youngsters claimed the first set but were outplayed by the veterans in the second and third for a final scoreline of 19-21, 21-19, 15-11.

Ross and Fendrick advanced to the gold-medal match where they faced off against Brazilians Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes. Despite gaining sizable leads at various points in the match, Ross and Fendrick weren’t able to defeat the Brazilians, who have now won three gold medals on the FIVB tour so far this year.

The title-winners walked away with $25,000 each, while Ross and Fendrick will split $30,000, and Hughes and Claes pocketed $7,000 each.