April Ross

April Ross has won more than one Olympic medal. She is one of a few female beach volleyball players that have done so. Alix Klineman is the newest Olympian and is set to join her in Tokyo. Ross's goal is to win her first Olympic gold medal. As she is 39 and has a long way to go, this could be her final chance. She remains optimistic that she will be able to win top awards. Ross stated via NBC Boston: "If we do our best and even playing well I believe we can be able to win gold." Additionally, I'm going to rely on a bit of good luck. Ross was born in 1982 in Costa Mesa California where she lived with her parents and sister. Ross was a competitive athlete in a variety of activities while at Newport Harbor High School. In addition to playing indoor volleyball, she also ran track and basketball as a pre-collegiate athlete. While she did well at indoor volleyball however, it was evident that her performance was above the average. Through her high school years, she was a middle blocker outside setter and hitter on the volleyball court as per her college bio. Her achievements were rewarded when she was named 1999 Gatorade's National Circle of Champions Player of the Year. The skills she showed in volleyball also earned her the Orange County Athlete of the Year award in the year 2000. Ross and Klineman started the partnership in 2017, but Ross had been a beach-scene celebrity for a long time prior to. As a matter of fact, Ross has won several major tournaments in her career with two partners. One of them is a legend. From 2007 until 2013, she was a team with Jennifer Kessy who more recently was Klineman's coach. Kessy was Ross's partner on the 2009 World Championships. They took home a Silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games held in London. The legendary Misty Maytreanor team and Kerri Jennings won the gold. As fate would have it Ross was Walsh Jennings' new partner after May-Treanor's retirement. They took home the bronze medal in beach volleyball at Rio Olympics 2016. Ross was a student athlete for USC Trojans before the start of her professional career. She was a player in high school, as well as before hitting the beaches as a professional. Ross had an impressive run during her time in the NCAA tournament. As a freshmen in 2000, her play earned her the Pac-10 as well as NCAA Young Player of the Year awards. In addition, she helped her Trojans to reach the Final Four. During her sophomore year she suffered a tremendous personal setback but managed to make it back as an All-American. The last two years with the Trojans team they won success by winning two consecutive national championships. In 2003-04, Ross was named as the most successful female volleyball player at a collegiate level in America through the Honda Sports Award. Ross studied at USC in International Relations. Unfortunately Ross mother Margie never got to see Ross rise to the highest levels of beach volleyball fame. Margie, Ross's mother, passed away in 2001. Ross was still an USC sophomore. Her breast cancer had been diagnosed. As a result, Ross is still near to her mother who passed away. Margie remains a source of inspiration, both off and on of the shore.