LA Sports Awards: Sportswoman of the Year

LOS ANGELES (December 19, 2017) — Collegiate beach volleyball champions

Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes of USC have been selected 2017 Sportswomen of the

Year by the Los Angeles Sports Council.

Claes (pronounced CLAYS) and Hughes will be honored at the 13th Annual LA Sports

Awards, to be held on Tuesday, February 6 at The Beverly Hilton.

Last May, the elite student-athletes helped the Trojans capture a third consecutive

national team title by defeating Pepperdine in the final of the NCAA Beach Volleyball

Championship in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Claes and Hughes were honored as the No. 1

pair on the NCAA All-Tournament team.

A week later the unstoppable duo won the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Pairs

Championship at the Hermosa Beach Pier.

The most dominant duo in the history of college beach volleyball and with the potential

to be the future of American women’s beach teams, the pair finished their 2017 senior

seasons at USC with a 55-1 overall record.

The Orange County natives have since graduated college and now compete on the

professional circuit. In September, they became the youngest team ever to win an AVP

tournament when they captured the season-ending AVP Championships in Chicago, one

of four AVP Top 10 finishes they had in 2017. They also had 4 Top 10 finishes in

international FIVB events and Hughes was named the FIVB Rookie of the Year.

The LA Sports Awards are presented annually by the Sports Council to celebrate the

greatest moments of the year in sports in the Los Angeles/Orange County area.

The ceremony also will feature the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement award to

Bob Miller, plus presentations to the Sportsman Coach, and Sports Executive of the

Year, and a countdown of 2017’s Top Ten moments. The awards banquet will be

televised on Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket (air dates TBA).

Past Sportswoman award honorees include Allyson Felix, Gracie Gold, Candace Parker

and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

Media Contact: Mark Meyers (714) 318-2332

http://www.facebook.com/LASportsAwards

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