April Ross

April Ross has won more than one medal at the Olympics. She is one of only a handful of female beach volleyball players that have done so. In Tokyo during the next few days she will attempt to win her third gold medal with fellow first-time Olympian Alix Klineman. Ross also hopes to get her very first Olympic medal. Perhaps this is her only chance at winning, as she's 39 old. She's certain that the top prizes can be achieved. Ross declared on NBC Boston: "If we perform our best and playing well I'm sure we'll be able to win gold." "I'm planning to test a little luck." Ross was born in California, Costa Mesa in the year 1982. Her parents and sister resided there. Ross went on to play in a myriad of sports during her time at Newport Harbor High School. She competed in basketball and track, in addition to her indoor volleyball exploits as a pre-collegiate athlete. She was definitely the best in the game of indoor volleyball. As a time at the high school level, according to her college bio, she was an outside-hitter, middle blocker and setter. For her efforts, she was honored as the 1999 Gatorade International Player of the year in Circle of Champions. The 2000 Orange County Athlete of the Month was also received by her in volleyball. Ross and Klineman formed their partnership in 2017, but Ross had been a beach-scene player for years prior to. As a matter of fact, Ross has won several significant tournaments during her time with two partners. One of them is a legend. In the period 2007 until 2013, she was a team alongside Jennifer Kessy who more recently was Klineman's coach. Together, Kessy Ross was an ace on the international stage, claiming a world title in 2009. The duo eventually captured an Olympic silver medal during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Misty Maytreanor (Jennings) as well as Misty Maytreanor clinched gold ahead of them. Ross Jennings was the replacement for May-Treanor as she retired. Together, they took home bronze medals in beach volleyball for the Rio Olympics of the year 2016. Following high school, and for a few several years prior to hitting the beach as a professional Ross played for the USC Trojans as an collegiate. She had a great run through college. As a freshmen in 2000, her play earned her the Pac-10 and NCAA Freshman-of-the-Year honors. In addition, she helped her Trojans get to the Final Four. The Trojans were devastated by a personal tragedy during her sophomore years, yet she went on to be an All-American once more. During her final two seasons as a member of the Trojans in the program they won victories by winning successive national titles. For her part, she cemented her place in the history books by winning the Honda Sports Award for 2003-04. The award is given to the most outstanding female volleyball players at colleges across the United States. Ross played international relations as a student at USC. Margie Ross was never able to watch her daughter's climb to fame as a beach volleyball player. Ross's mother died of cancer of the breast when she was a sophomore at USC. However, she continues to hold her lost parent near and close. Margie is a constant source of inspiration to her both in and out of the water.