The USA Eagles advanced to their third straight semifinal of the HSBC Sevens World Series on Sunday, but a familiar hurdle stood in their way -- the South Africa Blitzboks.

Much like their two previous meetings with the Blitzboks in Las Vegas and Vancouver, the Eagles were unable to get over the semifinals hump and end their string of near misses against the series leaders in Hong Kong. Each of the USA's past three losses to South Africa have come by five points or fewer, including Sunday's 29-24 loss in extra time.

Before the Eagles finished fourth overall in the Hong Kong leg, losing to Australia 26-19 in the third-place match, they got off to another promising 3-0 start in pool play. The USA's run included a 14-7 win over Russia, a 33-5 victory against Argentina, and a 27-7 quarterfinal triumph over England -- which sits in third place in the series and is one of only two teams to beat South Africa through seven rounds.

But after advancing to the semifinals, the Eagles' familiar woes against the Blitzboks crept back into the picture. For the third straight semifinal, the USA saw an early lead evaporate as South Africa reeled off 24 unanswered points to grab a commanding lead. While the Eagles capped a furious rally to force sudden-death overtime with a try by Madison Hughes, they were unable to hold the Blitzboks back in extra time. South Africa went on to lose in the finals 22-0 to Hong Kong champion Fiji, which dealt the Blitzboks just their third defeat this year.

The series as a whole has marked quite an improvement for USA, which is on course for its highest finish in the competition. Currently, the Eagles sit in fifth overall behind only first-place South Africa, second-place Fiji, third-place England, and fourth-place New Zealand. 

The biggest takeaway from the Hong Kong stop is that the USA has shown its potential, and under Mike Friday's guidance the Eagles are looking to continue the trend of upward momentum that they have had since he came on in 2014. This past weekend's dominant wins over England and Argentina by more than 20 points highlighted that progression.

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In a tough pool featuring New Zealand, Canada, and France, the Eagles will be looking for its fourth straight berth to the place matches in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series' next stop in Singapore this weekend.