After the US beach volleyball duo Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng failed to secure a place on the winner’s podium at the Olympic Games in Paris on Tuesday, the USC graduates vow to continue fighting for the next generation of athletes.

Cheng and Hughes have created many wonderful memories on the beach courts of their alma mater in South Los Angeles. What is especially nice is that there are now banners with their names on them, expressing the school community’s pride in the Olympians.

“All the banners – it’s really cool to see them. It’s incredible,” Cheng said.

“Just walking across the street, it feels like home,” Hughes added. “We were here for four years – every day, five days a week, training on this pitch. I love coming back here.”

The chemistry between Hughes and Cheng was seen around the world after the two grew up as athletes here in the Trojans’ hometown when college beach volleyball was in its infancy. Their partnership resulted in 103 consecutive match wins at USC as well as two consecutive NCAA national championships.

“We took a risk when we played beach volleyball in college. We considered playing indoors, but then we believed in the sport so much and wanted to see it evolve,” Hughes explained. “I think it’s just going to keep getting better.”

According to USC beach volleyball coach Dain Blanton, Hughes and Cheng offer current USC players a blueprint and goal for their future careers in beach volleyball.

“They are the role models,” Blanton said. “They are the people, the players, that we look at and say, ‘Look what they did when they were here. Look what they did and how far they’ve come and how far they’ve gone.'”