April Ross

April Ross was one of the few female beach volleyball athletes who earned medals during more than one Olympics. Alix-Klineman will compete with April Ross in Tokyo for her third gold in the coming days. In addition, Ross will be aiming for her very first Olympic gold. There is a chance that she has one opportunity, given that she is 39 years old. She remains optimistic that she can achieve top honors. Ross on NBC Boston, said that If the team is performing well or at all they can earn a gold. "I'm also going to try a little luck." Ross was born in 1982 in Costa Mesa California where she lived with her parents and her sister. In Newport Harbor High School, she was a participant in many sports. Along with the indoor game, she also played basketball and jogged track in her pre-college days. She was definitely the best in the game of indoor volleyball. The college bio says that she played outside of the hitter, middle blocker, as well as a setter in her volleyball playing career during high school. As a tribute to her efforts she was awarded the Gatorade Award for the National Player of 1999. Her skills in volleyball earned her an Orange County Athlete of the Awards in the year 2000. Ross is currently playing alongside Klineman since the year 2017 but her beach game was established well before this. She actually won several major championships while playing in the past with two different partners. among them a volleyball icon. From 2007-2013 she played with Jennifer Kessy who more recently served as her and Klineman's coach. Ross, Kessy's fellow teammate who won the world title alongside Kessy in 2009 was also a major force on world stage. At the 2012 Olympic Games, they received a gold medal. Misty May Treanor and Kerri Jennings, the team of legends that was the winners of the 2012 Olympics in London, beat their opponents to claim the gold. As fate would have it Ross became Walsh Jennings' new partner when May-Treanor retired. The team won bronze in beach volleyball at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Ross began her collegiate time with the Trojans at USC following high school. The Trojans were a few years away from when Ross went to the sand and turned pro. Her time at the school was one to remember. In 2000 she was named Pac-10 Freshman and NCAA Freshman Of The Year, and was also an All-American. Also, she was one of the key players for helping the Trojans to make it to their way to the Final Four. Her personal life was tense after a devastating defeat in her sophomore year however, she was successful in achieving the All-American award. Over her final two years within the team, she guided the Trojans towards the summit of the mountain by winning two three consecutive championships at the national level. In 2003-2004, Ross was named the best female volleyball player on the collegiate scene in the United States through the Honda Sports Award. Ross was an international relations major at USC. Margie Ross did not see her daughter achieve the heights of beach volleyball. Ross's mother died of cancer of the breast in 2001. Ross had just become a second-year student at USC. She continues to cherish her late parent. Margie has been an inspiration throughout her life, as well as on the beach.