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Ross and Hughes hit top spot in Moscow

 

MOSCOW, Russia, August 12, 2018 – Summer Ross and Sara Hughes ensured that their first season together on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour has a golden glow to it when they won the final of the Moscow 4-Star tournament on Sunday. 

 

The US pair defeated Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Santos Lisboa 2-1 (21-19, 12-21, 15-12) in their first World Tour final since they teamed up for The Hague 4-Star in January. 

 

“That was so amazing,” Hughes said. “My first World Tour final and being in the final meant everything.

 

“I am so glad I had this girl by my side and Brazil played great, but we competed hard to come out with the win.”

 

In July Ross, 25, and Hughes, 23, won their first World Tour medal when they left the Espinho 4-Star with the bronze medal in their luggage. 

 

Gold means that Ross has improved on the silver medal she won in the Russian capital in 2017, when she was playing alongside Brooke Sweat. 

 

The pair competed well in the first set, but the Brazilians dominated the second. However, Hughes scored the first point of the tie-break to settle their nerves. They then took control of the match and stayed calm when victory was in sight.

 

“We knew that the first point meant everything,” Ross said. “We just had to get every point we could get and somehow we got through.” 

 

Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Nina Betschart won their second World Tour medal of the year when they defeated Germany’s Julia Sude and Chantal Laboureur 2-0 (21-19, 21-12). in the bronze medal match.