LA Sports Awards: USC beach volleyball standouts Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes named 2017 Sportswomen of the Year

Published Dec. 19, 2017 1:17 p.m. ET

USC volleyball champions Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes of USC have been named the 2017 Sportswomen of the Year by the Los Angeles Sports Council.

Claes and Hughes will be honored at the 13th Annual LA Sports Awards (Tuesday, Feb. 6) at The Beverly Hilton.

The LA Sports Awards will air on FOX Sports West/Prime Ticket on a time/date TBD.

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 in May.

Claes and Hughes were honored as the No. 1 pair on the NCAA All-Tournament team.

A week later, the duo won the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Pairs Championship at the Hermosa Beach Pier.

https://www.foxsports.com/west/story/bob-miller-los-angeles-kings-lifetime-achievement-award-los-angeles-sports-awards-112817

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.