Sara Hughes is an American beach volleyball player who achieved the incredible world ranking of #9 with her partner Summer Ross in 2018. Hughes has taken home one gold and two bronze medals on the FIVB World Tour, as well as winning three tournaments on the AVP Pro Tour.

Hughes began her beach volleyball training at the age of eight in Huntington Beach. She partnered with Kelly Claes as a junior and the pair won bronze medals at both the 2013 U19 and the 2014 U21 World Championships. Her partnership with Claes continued through college, with the pair scooping up 103 consecutive match wins, and in 2016 and 2017 they lead the USC Trojans through back-to-back NCAA Championships.

In mid-2017, soon after turning professional, Hughes and Claes won the season-ending championship and simultaneously became the youngest team to win an AVP event.

In early 2018 Hughes and Claes parted ways, with Hughes finding a new teammate in Summer Ross. The new pair achieved instant success and within their first year had already acquired a World Tour title at the Moscow Open; a tournament which resulted in the pair entering the top ten of the world rankings, an unquestionably fulfilling career milestone for Hughes. 2018 proved quite the memorable year and she then went on to gain the title of AVP Best Defender.