Olympic beach volleyball: Cheng and Hughes reach the quarterfinals

PARIS (AP) — Americans Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes lost a set for the first time in the Paris Olympics beach volleyball tournament.

All that did was fire them up.

“When we bring the fire, the energy, the passion, we play better. So, we want to bring that all the time,” Hughes said after beating Italy 21-18, 17-21, 15-12 on Sunday. “Kelly and I really fight to stay in that present moment, and that really helps our team.”

Hughes and Cheng, the defending world champions, trailed...