Medal table | Olympic schedule |How to watch | Olympic News

In an exciting match on Sunday, the Americans Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes defeated the Italians Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti in beach volleyball and advanced to the Olympic quarterfinals.

The teams shared the first two sets, leaving everything to be decided in the third set. Cheng and Hughes took an 11-5 lead in the final set, but Gottardi and Menegatti fought back with four points in a row to keep the pressure on Team USA.

The USA stopped the run with a kill and took a 14-11 lead to serve for match point. Italy responded with a kill to regain serve, but Cheng secured the match with a kill at the net to give the USA a 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 15-12) victory.

The Americans will face the Swiss Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli in the quarterfinals. The Swiss won their round of 16 match against the Spaniards Liliana Fernández and Paula Soria Gutierrez 2-0 (23:21, 21:16) on Sunday.

The USA and Switzerland each have a day off before their quarter-final match on Tuesday.

Former USC teammates only 3 wins away from Olympic gold

Hughes and Cheng are now 4-0 in Paris and are both seeking their first Olympic medals. For Hughes, the Paris Games will be her first. Cheng was eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2021 Tokyo Games when she played with Sarah Sponcil. Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman won gold in Tokyo.

Cheng has since reunited with Hughes, her former teammate at USC. The two helped lead USC to its first NCAA beach volleyball championships in 2016 and 2017, including an undefeated 36-0 season in 2016. They first played together as professionals in 2017, but split to play with other partners ahead of the Tokyo Games.

In 2022, the two teamed up again and won the 2023 World Championship in Mexico against reigning champions Eduarda Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil.

With Sunday’s victory, they remain undefeated at the Olympic Games and are only three wins away from an Olympic gold medal.