No more watching for American collegiate champs Claes & Hughes

Klagenfurt, Austria, July 27, 2016 – After years of watching and admiring Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst from afar, Sara Hughes and Kelly Claes were about to step on the same Beach Volleyball court as the German Olympians.

“It was just fun,” the 21-year-old Hughes said. “But I have so much respect for (them) and like Kelly, I love watching them on FIVB. It was surreal to be actually on the court competing against her.”

In Wednesday’s A1 Major Klagenfurt, the wild-card United States duo, who just finished their third year at the University of Southern California, did more than compete against the top-seeded Ludwig and Walkenhorst.

Hughes and Claes recovered from an early 16-13 deficit and then went on to defeat Ludwig and Walkenhorst, 21-18, 21-19, as pool play opened in the main draw of the SWATCH Major Series tournament, one of the most popular events on the FIVB World Tour.

They weren’t done there, however. Later in the day, they knocked off another Olympic team, defeating Canada’s Jamie Lynn Broder and Kristina Valjas, 21-17, 21-17.

Internationally, Claes and Hughes are unknown but their work at the collegiate level has been phenomenal. In the past two seasons at USC, they have a 92-3 match record and have won their past 73 matches.

A week ago, Claes and Hughes put the finishing touches on their World University Games championship in Estonia, which came on the heels of them help their school capture the first NCAA Beach Volleyball national championship, before heading to Austria.

They earned a wild card berth into the main draw in Klagenfurt and discovered Tuesday night that their …

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