Kelly Claes

Last updated

Kelly Cheng
Kelly Claes.jpg
Claes attempting to block volleyball
Personal information
Full nameKelly Marie Cheng
National teamUnited States
Born (1995-09-18) September 18, 1995 (age 28)
Fullerton, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm) [1]
Website www.kellyclaes.us
Sport
Sport Beach volleyball
College team USC Trojans
Partner Sara Hughes 2022–
Former partner(s) Sarah Sponcil, Betsy Flint
Medal record
Women's beach volleyball
Representing the Flag of the United States.svg  United States
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Mexico Beach

Kelly Marie Cheng (born September 18, 1995, maiden name Claes) is an American beach volleyball player. She and her partner Sara Hughes won the bronze medal at the 2013 U19 World Championships, the silver medal at the 2014 U21 World Championships, the gold medal at the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2017.

Contents

Early life

Cheng was born in Fullerton, California to Paul, a former San Diego State baseball player, and Quincy. She played high school volleyball at El Dorado High School in Placentia, California where she was awarded All-CIF Division 1A and Orange County Register All-Orange County first team honors. [2] Along with partner Sara Hughes, won the bronze medal at the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships and the silver medal at the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships. [2]

College

Cheng began playing volleyball at the University of Southern California with partner Alexa Strange in 2014. [2] During her sophomore year she rejoined former partner Sara Hughes and won the AVCA Pairs National Championship. [3] Claes was named a 2015 AVCA All-American. During their junior and senior years Cheng and Hughes led the USC Trojans to back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, Claes won the inaugural Pac-12 Player of the Year award along with Pac-12 Pair of the Year and the Pac-12 Pairs Championship with Hughes. Claes graduated from USC in 2017 with a degree in sociology.

Professional career

In her first year as a professional, Cheng won her first AVP Gold Series Championships in Chicago with college partner Sara Hughes. The duo became the youngest team to win an AVP event. [3] Hughes split from Cheng in early 2018. Cheng then teamed up with Sarah Sponcil. The duo won the silver medal at the 2019 FIVB four-star event in The Hague and then qualified for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo after winning gold medals in Sochi and Ostrava. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "AVP Pro Tour Athlete Kelly". AVP Beach Volleyball. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Kelly Claes – Women's Beach Volleyball". USC Athletics. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "AVP Pro Tour Athlete Kelly Claes". AVP Beach Volleyball. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Kelly Claes". Team USA. Archived from the original on December 31, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
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