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April Ross finds new partner for Tokyo 2020 Olympic run

Jan 02 Blog

April Ross, a silver and bronze medalist at the last two Olympics, will try for gold in 2020 with a new partner who has no international beach volleyball experience.

Ross said she and Alix Klineman, a recent beach convert from indoor, are partnering for this Olympic cycle, beginning with the first FIVB World Tour event of 2018 in January.

“It was [either] the safe choice or the choice I thought was challenging but had the most potential,” Ross said on a podcast published Wednesday. “It came down to really intangible things. I decided to go with Alex Klineman, take a shot at Tokyo with her.”

The 35-year-old Ross won silver at the 2012 Olympics with Jennifer Kessy and bronze in Rio with Kerri Walsh Jennings.

Ross and Walsh Jennings split last spring. Ross paired with Rio Olympian Lauren Fendrick for the rest of the season.

They won silver at the world championships, when Ross said they would re-evaluate their partnership at the end of the season.

Ross said she trained with “a couple of people” before partnering with Klineman, a 27-year-old who primarily played indoor over the last decade, including at Stanford from 2007-10.

Klineman was the Gatorade National Player of the Year coming out of high school and the Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year for her senior season at Stanford.

She then gained some indoor national team experience, including playing as a reserve in the 2014 FIVB World Grand Prix but never at the world championships or Olympics.

Klineman also served a 13-month doping ban in 2013 and 2014 after testing positive for a banned substance found in one of her mom’s pills that she took. USADA, in announcing the 13-month ban, accepted that Klineman’s ingestion was inadvertent, and she did not intentionally cheat.

Klineman, who is 6 feet, 5 inches (three inches taller than Walsh Jennings), moved full-time to the beach in 2017, taking AVP Rookie of the Year honors but not playing any international events.

“I watched her a little bit, just after one season on the beach, I thought she was picking up some really good things, was a lot quicker than I expected her to be,” said Ross, who like Klineman played indoor volleyball in college in California (USC). “She has that chip on her shoulder a little bit. It reminds me of me when I got out onto the beach because I wanted to go to the Olympics indoor. I tried training with the national team a bunch and just felt overlooked, like all the time. Things weren’t objective. … She could keep playing indoor [professionally in Europe or Brazil] and keep making a good amount of money. She’s out here on the beach because she wants to go to the Olympics, and she has something to prove.”

Photo Credit Anthony Moore
Sweating It Up In Rio

Feb 27 Blog

Our second day of double days was again, sweltering in the morning, but I definitely felt better than I did the morning prior (see Blog 1). Marcio arranged for a Brazilian team we didn’t know to be at this practice, which was great because it makes you focus on what you’re doing since there’s no way you can know the other team’s tendencies if you’ve never seen them before. We went longer than normal, and we would have kept playing, but Marcio made us stop because we still had lifting and another practice later.

Immediately following practice we showered and changed for the gym. I thought taking a cold shower would cool me off enough after practice, but I just kept on sweating. As soon as I put on my workout clothes I sweat right through them. I had to keep wiping my face with my sarong because sweat kept dripping in my eyes; I was a mess. (Good thing I brought my Gatorlytes! If you’re sweating that much it’s really important to add electrolytes and potassium to whatever you’re drinking!)

So after I got myself together and downed some yogurt with granola along with tons of water, we drove over to the weight room. ‘Off the court’ training varies SO much from country to country, it’s always interesting to see how different national teams train. In this facility there were a lot of machines and hardly any free weights, one platform (kind of), which is mainly what I use at home, but you learn to use what you’ve got and we both got good lifts in.

Post-lift it was so late we decided to go straight to Sugar Loaf Mountain (our chosen tourist activity of the day), which is the iconic two-peaked mountain you see at the end of the beach in every picture of Rio. There are big gondolas that take you initially to the first peak and then on up to the top. When we got into the first gondola I was still sweating. It was still sweltering. There were a ton of people bunched into this non-air conditioned small space. And they made us wait inside for what felt like forever. Once it started moving, though, I forgot all about that stuff because the views were immediately breathtaking.

We got to the stop on the first peak and had a much needed lunch break. We were surprised when little monkeys started coming at us out of the woodwork from all angles to try and get a nibble of our food. They were everywhere and if they weren’t so tiny and cute it would have been annoying, but I couldn’t get enough of them! One sat on the shoulder of Marcio’s chair for about three minutes just listening to our conversation. I think I have a hundred blurry pictures of them.

After lunch we took the next gondola up to the top. I could not believe how amazing the panoramic views were — it made all the sweating easily worth it. I highly recommend doing this if you’re ever in Rio. We took in the scenery, got some pretty cool photo opps and then needed to head down as it was getting really late and we still had another practice to go.

We got back to the hotel at 5 p.m. (we had left that morning at 9 a.m., just to put it into context). Thankfully, though, our second practice wasn’t until 7 p.m. under the lights on Copacabana Beach. I had just enough time to shower, snack, Instagram, tweet, and Facebook (yes, these are verbs) my favorite shot from the top of Sugar Loaf, and get in a light half-hour power nap before it was time to go again. I use the term “lights” lightly, since once we started practicing it was extremely hard to see, but it was a test of resiliency, patience and overall mental strength.

When we wanted to be frustrated, we just stuck with it and figured out a way to deal, and it turned out to be another great practice. Dinner at 9 p.m. after all of that was a struggle. I tried so hard to convey that I wanted grilled chicken instead of breaded chicken with my dish, but alas, my signing skills are not good enough the waiter did not understand, so I had breaded chicken for dinner, which is NOT in my diet, but what are you going to do? It was delicious. (I have since learned how to say, “I want grilled chicken” in Portuguese.)

Today was a bit more mellow. We had a mandatory press conference with all the American and Brazilian athletes, which was WELL attended by the media, followed by the technical meeting. After those obligations I had a massage scheduled (hey, it’s part of the job), which I could hardly wait for after the wringer I’d been putting my body through. Later in the afternoon, we took advantage of our time slot for training on center court where we will play tomorrow and ran through some drills with Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat. Seems like it’s going to be a fun atmosphere. Our matches are at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., so we’ll be playing under the (real) lights, which is always exciting.

I’m so pumped for this competition. We’ve only been training a short time, but it’s been a long time since we’ve competed and I’m ready to put it on the line. I don’t know how we’ll do as we are in the middle of sorting out our system and fine tuning things that need fine tuning, but we are going to give it our best and leave it all on the court! Go USA!
Getting Acclimated To Rio

Feb 27 Blog

So if you haven’t heard yet, the top four U.S. beach volleyball teams are competing this week in the USA vs. Brazil Challenge in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It’s always a really fun tournament, the AVP hosted one a few years ago in Arizona and Brazil has hosted them pretty regularly, but this one is especially cool since it’s going to take place at the projected 2016 Olympic beach volleyball venue. It’s still really early in preseason for us Americans — we usually start training at the end of January and don’t have events until the end of April. The Brazilians, on the other hand, have been training and competing for their entire summer (our winter), which is one of the reasons why Kerri and I, along with our coaches, Marcio and Jon, decided to get here a few days early for a short, but intensive training camp.

We flew down yesterday and will do double days for the next few days leading up to the competition. It’s extremely helpful that Marcio grew up in Rio. He has been able to set up courts, transportation, training partners and equipment for our sessions. We had our first training this morning in 100-degree heat, with about the same degree of humidity, no breeze and no clouds. To say my body was slightly shocked after training in the mild California weather and flying for 15 hours yesterday is an understatement, but it felt great and by the end I was definitely better acclimated. Where we get to train in the mornings is on a bay under the gaze of the Christ the Redeemer statue, which is pretty cool to see in the background while siding out.

After practice we ran back to the hotel, had lunch — always a form of rice, beans and meat — overlooking Copacabana Beach, rested a little, hung out at the pool, which has the most amazing view of the beach and Sugar Loaf, and got ready for practice, round two.

But first, acai. Acai bowls are big in California, but if you don’t know, acai is a berry and they blend it with ice and guarana syrup (I go no syrup) and add granola. They originated here, so you have to get them, and it helps that they’re kind of a perfect pick me up right before practice. I can’t get enough!

Our second training was smack dab in the middle of Copacabana Beach. It’s such a crazy experience to train there, it’s normal M.O. is chaos, so it was an equally good exercise in focus. We had about 25 people lining the wall watching our practice at any given time, and the wall is just about five feet from the side line, plus four extra coaches and players helping with our training. At one point there was a police car with sirens going off about 25 feet away for a good five minutes. But it was GORGEOUS! We trained until about sunset and then went in the water and played some foot volley. I could have stayed out there for another couple of hours, but an athlete’s gotta eat. So Kerri and I are going to go grab some more rice, beans and meat, and get ready to do it all again tomorrow!
#Goals

Jan 09 Blog

I know goal setting is a big thing right now, being that it’s early January, so I thought I would share my experiences with it. Every year I would make resolutions, but just recently I started setting goals in volleyball. However, my resolutions would eventually fall off and I got to the point where setting goals caused me more anxiety that they were worth. Thoughts akin to “It means I didn’t work hard enough if I don’t (accomplish this or that goal), or I’m not as good as I need to be if we don’t win” right down to the straight up, “I’m not worthy/deserving of my own support/love if I fail to achieve my goals.” A lot of this is not even thought consciously, but when you sit down and dissect it, you will probably find that if you don’t set goals the right way, this could be how you’re subconsciously treating yourself.

I recently coached a USA Volleyball High Performance Camp down in Chula Vista, I do it every year because it’s so much fun, and I always learn a little something from the kids or the amazing coaches that attend, but this year a pretty bright light bulb was switched on at one of the “class room” sessions. We talked about goal setting, and I don’t know if I never paid close enough attention in the past, but I did not know this was how to set goals until I heard that lesson. My goals have all been outcome related. I.e. I want to win this or that tournament, I want to be at this body weight before season, I want us to hold the number one ranking, etc. Cue anxiety, unhealthy habits, and if it didn’t work out some self reprimanding.

It’s kinda funny because I would always look back at my life and find it a little weird (and feel weird saying it in interviews!) that it was never a goal of mine growing up to make the Olympics, or to win National Championships at USC, or to go undefeated my senior club season, I just didn’t really set goals growing up… but yet I’ve accomplished some pretty cool things. And after this lesson I learned at the HP Camp I started to understand why.

One of the things I am most grateful for in life is the work ethic my parents and coaches I had growing up instilled in me. Every day, to this day, my intention is to do and give my absolute best, to not make excuses, but accept challenges as opportunity… and guess what? Those are actually how you’re supposed to set goals! Goals should not be outcome dependent, but process dependent. This means you should be setting goals that will encourage you to get better day by day, little markers you can measure daily to make sure you’re going in the right direction. Even as little as “Did I give my best today?” You can still want to achieve some hefty things, but accomplishment is not the goal. Doing the best you can to be the best you can be IS the goal, regardless of outcome. And if you do your best it will foster a sense of achievement, confidence, and self-love, which REALLY is the point of playing sports, and to be honest, everything else.

This doesn’t detract from being competitive and wanting to win- that will always be there- but I believe these goals will help me with what I want to achieve in a much healthier and effective way. The key to this (as with everything), though, is self-discipline and keeping yourself accountable on the daily, which is why it’s good to write them down (I’m a big fan of journaling!) and revisit them often. I just read an article about how the Stanford volleyball players write in their journal what they want to work on before each practice, and I think that would be a great habit to adopt. Journaling your food is also a well known and effective way to keep your diet (as in healthy lifestyle, not cutting calories) on point.

I’m so glad this clicked for me because I understand why setting goals is important. Now I know I was just doing it in an unproductive way- you live, you learn, and you grow!

Some of my goals for 2015:
Keep sugar out of my diet
Take my vitamins on the road
Journal before practice
Substitute green tea for my afternoon coffee a few times a week
Speak to myself in a supportive way even after making mistakes
Meditate daily

If you need help with yours, here’s a list of “resolutions” I really like: http://bit.ly/1seCkct

I hope this helps some of you who might have been setting goals the wrong way as well, wishing you a happy 2015!

All photos by Eric Vallely.
2014 Recap with photos!

Nov 12 Blog

What a crazy summer! There were ups, there were downs, great memories made, records set, and LOTS of airline miles accumulated! I learned so much this year, battled hard, and I hope it made me better, but I know it made me stronger. Before I get carried away with the gazillion things I could blog about, I wanted to provide a brief summary (complete with photos!) of our season, so here it is…

Our season started (after three months of preseason) in late April with two events in China.

First in Fuzhou-

Next was Shanghai-

Then we came home for the AVP in St. Pete, FL, where Brad (with John Mayer) and I (with Kerri) both won, becoming only the third couple ever to accomplish that! And, bonus, no hurricane this year!

Next we were off to Moscow for a Grand Slam where we won some furry hats.

Then we stayed out for two more tournaments in Europe…

One in Berlin, where we also celebrated my birthday! Here we are against the Berlin Wall-

Then one in Stavanger, Norway, one of my favorite tournaments! I love the trophy they give for winning it- a Viking sword!

After those three weeks overseas it was back to the U.S. for the second AVP in Milwaukee. I was blown away by the atmosphere of this one and how awesome the fans were!

After the finals of that one it was right to the airport for our flights back to Europe. Gstaad, Switzerland for a week….

(practice against Phil & Rosie, we still owe them burritos for losing standing game. FYI it’s really hard to jumbo Phil.)

Then the Netherlands, where we actually played in two different cities- Amsterdam-

And The Hague- before heading back to the homeland again.

Once we got home, we immediately started preparing for the Long Beach Grand Slam in our backyard. It’s the only World Tour event in the U.S. and we all want to win it. Taking the cake in that one was one of my favorite moments all season. Doing the worm on NBC with Geeter before the finals was pretty sweet too though 🙂

After a quick champagne toast and a shower I headed to LAX to fly out that night in order to make it to Austria in time for the main draw, that was some brutal travel. We always love playing in Klagenfurt, just wish we’d done a little better.

After a disappointing finish, but also, the best party of the season it was time to jump back on that bird and fly home. This time we were home for two weeks, two AVPs, and Brad’s birthday! The first one was in Salt Lake City-

But then we were home for a FULL WEEK! Next up was the Granddaddy of beach volleyball tournaments- The Manhattan Beach Open, which I had never won before.

I was beyond thrilled to earn my plaque on the pier with Kerri! After checking that one off the bucket list we were supposed to go back to Europe, for another Grand Slam in Poland, but after being caught up in the grind for twelve weeks in a row at this point we made a last minute decision to skip it. Our bodies, and to a bigger extend our minds, needed rest. I think we took two days off and then hit the practice court again.

After Poland there was another AVP, this time in Cincinnati, Ohio-

The tournament in Ohio was followed the next weekend by another east coast AVP in Atlantic City, NJ so we decided not to fly all the way back to Cali, but instead stay out in New York for the week.

However, this was no leisurely stroll through Central Park kinda stay in the Big Apple, we went to work doing media for the AVP and pumping up the next event to try and get some New Yorkers down to the upcoming AVP for the weekend.

We did get to catch some US Open action which was really cool to see. My mind just started thinking about how similar beach volleyball and tennis are and how they should be on the same level popularity-wise & business wise…maybe one day.

As a result of all our running around in NYC, I don’t know if I’ve ever been AS exhausted as I was during the first day of the tournament in AC. My whole body hurt, I was so tired, and mentally toast. We managed to hold it together to stay in the winners bracket and I finally had some time to recoup that night and came back, thankfully, with a newfound energy the next day to keep our AVP winning streak alive.

Mercifully, after the Atlantic City AVP we had a TRUE weekend off, the first in about sixteen weeks! It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and family for a quick minute, definitely mentally rejuvenating.

The Huntington Beach AVP Championship was the following weekend and we showed up ready to clinch our undefeated AVP season. Whitney and Heather definitely came with their A game in the finals, but we were able to hang on and get our names in the record books! It was a very special moment.

But no parties for us, I immediately went home grabbed my bags then headed back to LAX for an overnight flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil for our last tournament of the year! Where it rained the whole time….haha.

Like I said, it was a crazy season, but so great to get it under our belts going forward. We know what we need to do to be prepared for next year and how much time, effort, sacrifice, and strength it’s going to take, but we are definitely up for the challenge!

I have to thank everyone who helped me/us out this year- my husband, my family and friends and fans for all the support- cannot overstate my appreciation for it, our coach Marcio Sicoli and assistant Jon Daze, my strength coach Tim Pelot, my agent Lindsay Kagawa-Colas, all the physios who traveled with us and helped us at home, USAV for their support, and Mizuno for outfitting me in the best and always being there for me! I am so thankful I get to do this and so grateful to everyone who’s agreed to come on this journey with me!
Self Discipline

Mar 09 april ross, beach volleyball, olympics, self-discipline, volleyball Blog, Uncategorized

“You either suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Pick a side.” -Jim Rohn (modified)

This topic is a passionate one for me. The first definition of self-discipline I came across said it’s an act of denying yourself. But I’ve also heard of it described as essential to freedom. Counterintuitive for sure, but I totally believe these definitions are the same. Growing and becoming better at anything, being proud of yourself, and therefore authentically confident, is only attainable through denying yourself what you know you should. If you are authentically confident in your capabilities, whether it be life, or sport, or business, I believe, in a sense, you are free. Freedom from self-criticism and self-doubt is very liberating, but it’s hard, extremely hard to earn. I’ve had varying degrees of self-discipline throughout my career, but I’m pretty sure I never even understood, truly, what self-discipline looked like or, more importantly, felt like before I began playing beach volleyball.

Playing indoor for a gazillion years (at least that’s what it felt like) DID NOT show me the need for an individual to have self-discipline. My fate was in another’s hands. I was told when to practice (even if I felt too beat up for it to be productive), what to wear (even if it wasn’t comfortable), to lift exactly the same as everyone else on my team (even if I had specific weaknesses I felt needed work), and then, weirdly enough, given total freedom to eat where ever and whatever I wanted. So, where I would have loved to have some control I was given none and in the area where I really didn’t earn or deserve my freedom I was given it overwhelmingly. My theory is that because I had all these authority figures and experts telling me what I should do, I was never really accountable for my own self-discipline. In my mind, if I was being given the freedom to eat where ever I wanted by the same people who controlled every other part of my (athletic) life, I could afford to revel in that liberty. Bring on Del Taco at 3 in the morning, Jamba Juice on top of lunch (because it’s fruit, it’s healthy!), and pints of ice cream to reward myself for studying- cut to me gaining the freshman twenty-five. And I’m not blaming anyone for this lack of self-discipline, it’s a symptom of the system, I just wish I had realized it then and seen how much better I could have been if I took it upon myself to control what I could control.

Make no mistake, I gave 150% at practice and in the weight room, I bought into the team and wanted to win, but at the same time, in the weight room there was no real drive to get as strong as I could get or do anything extra (despite my twenty-five pound weight gain), it was more like, “I’m going to do what my weight coach put on that paper and do it the best I can.” Same with practice, I went hard everyday and pushed myself and my teammates to be the best we could be, but to be honest, my motivation a lot of the time was, “let’s go hard so we can accomplish the goal of this drill and get out of here.” I never got to work on anything I felt needed work, it was always drills generalized for the team or the outside hitters as a whole. My fate just wasn’t in my hands, the only thing I could really control in the gym was my effort level, which, like I said I always kept as high as I could. Obviously this worked well, we went on to make it to three Final Fours, and win two National Championships, going undefeated during our second run, so I’m not arguing that the system should have been or should be different, just that it doesn’t foster a true sense of self-discipline. I’ve had a lot of time to think since my days of indoor and I feel a twinge of regret knowing that had I possessed more self-discipline I could have been better throughout my four years at USC and three years of playing in Puerto Rico professionally. This twinge of regret is heavily overshadowed, of course, by the success I encountered, but I still wonder…

As I mentioned, my discovery of self-discipline came after switching to beach volleyball. This was the first time in my life (athletically speaking) I was given full control of my own destiny. When I started on the beach with Keao (my former USC teammate) we were in charge of when we practiced, when, if, and how we would workout/lift, who would coach us, what tournaments we would go to, how we would get there, where we would stay, what we would eat, etc. It was an awkward time, as all growing stages are. I didn’t understand the amount of self-motivation and self-drive it took to be as self-disciplined as I needed to be in order to manufacture success. We didn’t hire a coach, our practices, therefore, were half-hearted or at best unproductive. I can’t even remember how I worked out at that point, IF I even worked out at all…. We didn’t prepare for tournaments, we just showed up, and got knocked down. Then we partied, flew home, recovered there for a day, which scrapped a practice, and tried to revamp for the next tournament where we would do it all over again. There were a few tournaments where we did okay, but I KNOW had we used more discipline in our preparation, practices, and planning we could have been MUCH more successful. To be honest, I didn’t have a lot of expectations for that initial season, I didn’t take it all that seriously, and just wanted to have fun, but at the same time I’m super competitive and was upset we didn’t do better, all in all it was a HUGE learning experience. When I decided after that season I wanted to make a real go at professional beach volleyball I looked back at all the mistakes I had made that previous year and became determined not to repeat them and THAT is where my sense of true self-discipline started.

“The secret in life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” -Paulo Coelho, from one of my favorite books, The Alchemist.

From that point of enlightenment I have been cognizant about doing everything I can to help myself succeed. That meant, unfortunately, splitting up with Keao, because we were both newbies and couldn’t help each other get better like we needed, it was painful, but the right decision. For me, it meant giving up an indoor season in the winter and the paycheck that went with it to stay in California and train full time. Sacrifice is the sister of self-discipline. In that time between my first “learning” season and my second season (when I paired up with Jen Kessy) I made some life changes- I ended a relationship, I decided to stop drinking, and went on a strict healthy eating plan. I hired a strength coach and subjected myself to double days on the beach. Taking accountability for myself caused my motivation and drive to rise accordingly. This did not happen over night. I made really tough decisions and had to have really hard conversations with people to put myself in a position to succeed. I had to have really honest discussions with myself. And even harder than all that was learning to make the tiny choices day in and day out that add up over time and make ALL the difference. I think this is a huge lesson for people to learn, not just athletes, but my point is, had I not been given the responsibility of my own destiny through beach volleyball, I don’t think I would know the importance of or have the understanding of self-discipline, motivation, and drive that I have today. It has been a wonderful, though at times, painful learning curve and I know it’s not done yet, I have A LOT of learning, growing, and improving left to do. Life IS a learning process and I’m STILL working on being more disciplined- mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” -Colin Powell.

I write this for two reasons, one, so that maybe those playing indoor in college or juniors will see that if they take the “controllables” into their own hands, they can, in some cases, drastically influence their future chances of success. And two, for any aspiring beach volleyball players, so that they know it’s not a picnic out here. You have to fight, and grovel, and outwork others to have any chance of success on the beach, but more than anything you have to be accountable for yourself. It’s all up to you, no excuses, set yourself free.
2013 Season Highlights

Nov 25 2013, april ross, AVP, beach volleyball, highlights, season Blog, Uncategorized
It’s hard to know where to start when looking back over the 2013 season, there was just so….much. There was so much I have no idea how to fit it all in- that’s partly what I get for not regularly updating my blog during season…but nonetheless, now I feel I have to condense everything I want to say so that it fits under a singular topic. Therefore, I’ve decided to share with you just my favorite parts of this past season and thankfully there are enough to fill what narrowly passes for a blog 🙂

In (mostly) chronological order:
- Being the centerfold of Dig! Thanks Sherry Wong for taking my favorite photo ever!
- I got to go to a new country! After years of going to the same (for the most part, great) locations for our World Tour stops, they added a stop in Argentina this year! I thought it was a great addition and the fans made it even better. They definitely gave Cali fans a run for their money, I felt like I was at a futbol match with how loud and enthusiastic they were. The people there, in general, were so welcoming, friendly, and warm, I really hope it becomes a mainstay on our schedule.
- The epic international Ace game we had in The Hague, Netherlands (Ace is a six on six fun sand vball game we often play after tournaments)- I ripped my jeans, people got punched in the face (by other people trying to hit the ball), we had standing jousts that lasted minutes, and more sky balls than you could count. Then I did the worm and busted my chin open, don’t worry, it didn’t stop me.
- Getting to the finals in Rome! Currently my favorite tour stop, I love playing (and just being) there. The coffee, the food, the sights, it’s amazing. The arena we play in is surrounded by marble Zeus-like statues, the weather is usually great, and we can hang out at the “club house” all day and watch other teams play. It was the first WT final we got to this year and after losing in the semis in Argentina it felt great.
- Playing with Whit in World Champs. This is a hard one because it was a final goal of mine and Jen’s to win this tournament, but she was sidelined so I had to pick up someone else to play with. I had so much fun playing with Whit, I feel like we played really well together, and it was awesome finally getting to battle with her on the same side of the net (as we’ve been friends for so long, but never played in a pro tournament together). We made it to the semis and lost, I still regret that match, I don’t feel like I was mentally prepared enough and that’s my own fault. Still, it was a good finish for a team playing together for the first time AND at World Championships. The player party was just the frosting on the cake, dance circles and pogoing all night, the Polish really know how to get down (proud to say I’m 25% Polish).
- Beating the top ranked Talita and Tiana of Brazil in the finals of the World Series of Beach Volleyball held in Long Beach with Jen. Our family and friends were finally able to watch us at an International event so it felt even better to win. It was the first annual for the event so we’ll be expected to defend the title next year, can’t wait!
- Signing a partnership deal with Mizuno! And before you think I’m obligated to write this, I’m really not. I am so stoked to be apart of their transition into beach volleyball. I love how they see the future and have invested in this side of the sport. Beach volleyball is just going to continue to grow with the adoption of Sand as a NCAA sport and the quickly exploding sand club programs. They have great beach stuff so buy Mizuno to support your sport!! If you’re interested in getting involved in sand here’s some info on clinics & tryouts in Orange County: https://www.facebook.com/pages/OC-Sand-Volleyball-Club/1421570491390722o
- Going back to Berlin. We did terrible in that event, but I love that city so much it was still so fun being there. And Smart Car hosted another epic player party that involved trust falls, sliding across the dance floor slip & slide style, and dancing with life-size cardboard cut outs of Phil.
- The reemergence of the AVP!! We had seven AVP tournaments this year and they were all run professionally, with great fans, in great locations. Jen and I won the first one in Salt Lake City, UT after falling into the contender’s bracket early and fighting our way back to and through the finals. I was extremely exhausted afterwards, but it was the best kind of exhaustion. We also won in Atlantic City, NJ and split the win in St. Pete, FL after a gnarly storm forced us to cancel the final.
- Playing with Kerri. We officially teamed up in late October for the Santa Barbara Open through the rest of the season. It has been so much fun being on the same side of the net as her, and I’ve been really surprised at how similar our attitudes and playing styles are. She definitely motivates me to go harder and get better, in the best way. I’m really looking forward to preseason, it’s going to be super tough, but I think it’ll be really good for me, and us.
- Winning back to back Grand Slam titles!! The first in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the second in Xiamen, China.
  - Sao Paulo was a super tough tournament, we managed to come out first in pool, but we went to three in almost all of our matches including the semi and final. The final was one of the hardest fought matches I’ve ever played. Germany had nine match points against us and we fought off all of them- in overtime, finally managing to win that set to force a third. We were able to hold on to the momentum and win the match. It was amazing to stand on the top of that podium, listen to the National Anthem, and watch the American flag fly the highest.
  - Xiamen was also tough, we had the added element of gnarly wind to contend with there. We played pretty terrible in our match against Italy 1, losing in two to come out second in pool. If you come out first you get a bye in the first round of playoffs, going straight to ninth, since we came out second we had to play to stay alive. We drew Argentina, and they gave us everything they had. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team serve tougher than they did, and they constantly kept us on our toes doing things that we didn’t expect, like pulling on perfect sets and setting the ball over on two. Thankfully some of our USA teammates were there supporting us and I really think that made the difference (thanks Jake & Casey!). We were able to win 16-14 in the third and from there we adjusted, played better wind ball, won the rest of our matches, and took the final against Talita and Tiana for the Gold.
- The Hilton HHonors Hawaii Beach Challenge. This second annual edition was a great cap to season, this year both China and Canada were invited, we did a round robin plus semis and finals. It was super fun getting to hang out with some of the people we compete against all year and we were in Hawaii which never sucks. I can’t tell you how it ended up because it has yet to air. Men’s matches air Dec. 2 & 3, and ours will air on Dec. 14th on NBC Sports Network, so watch to find out the results!!
- It’s been a personal career goal of mine to be voted MVP of the AVP and I feel semi-shallow admitting that, but it’s the truth. So I was really honored and excited to have been named the MVP this year. I am also really thankful that Jen and I were named Team of the Year on the AVP, it is a really great honor for what was our last season together. If you want to see the rest of the awards given out, check out the AVP’s webite: http://avp.com/news-blog/1415-avp-recognizes-top-performers-as-tour-announces-2013-year-end-award-winners-2
Hope you enjoyed reading about all the great moments because I had an amazing time living them 🙂
VOLLEYBALL STARS TRYING TO ALIGN

Sep 25 Blog, News

It came as no surprise that three-time gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and her brand-new partner, London silver medalist April Ross, sailed right through their first AVP tournament together without losing a single set. As the newest American power team laughed and hugged and sprayed champagne, it felt like a scene fans may be seeing a lot more of in the coming years.

With the win in the AVP Santa Barbara Open, Ross and Walsh Jennings officially began their journey toward the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro amid very high expectations. Over the next two and a half years, the two veteran players will work to build a partnership after competing against each other for nearly a decade.

“It’s a totally different game when we’re on the same side of the court,” Ross said. “We’re still figuring out what that is but it’s coming along pretty fast.”

Walsh Jennings and Ross decided to pair up more than a year ago, even before they faced each other in the gold-medal match in London. Knowing their partners were set to retire, it only made sense that the best two players in the country join forces to try to bring home a fourth straight gold medal.

With only five practices together before they competed last weekend, Walsh Jennings and Ross had to learn as they went. They found out that they have more similarities than differences.

“I’ve never played with anyone with as much energy as April has,” Walsh Jennings said. “It’s like looking in a mirror out there. I think we’re really similar in the way we play and the way we feel about playing. I don’t think I would have guessed that really. I’m still getting to know her.”

Whether the similar energy will work for or against them is unclear. Both their previous partners complemented their energy in a different way. Ross brought the energy in her seven-year partnership with Jen Kessy, and Walsh Jennings provided it with Misty May-Treanor.

“I feel like Jen and I were yin and yang as far as energy,” Ross said. “But I really like how Kerri and I start a match with the same energy and push through the whole time. It is awesome and it makes the game easier.”

Successful partnerships in beach volleyball can be difficult to predict because they tend to hinge on much more than just skill.

“There is an intimacy level that you need to be great,” Walsh Jennings said. “I think why we had so much success with our former partners is because we had that in spades. We took it really seriously and it’s a beautiful thing when you have a great partnership.”

Ross and Walsh Jennings both know what it’s like to build and maintain long and successful partnerships, but they say they’ll never make comparisons to the past.

“We want our own chemistry and we want to be better than we were before,” Walsh Jennings said. “Not for one second will I ever compare April and I to Misty and I. It’s just not possible. It’s not fair and it’s looking back as far as I’m concerned.”

With the best blocker in the world and the best server in the world on the same side of the net, Walsh Jennings and Ross are already a force on the domestic tour. Their real test will come with the international tour. They’ll compete in their first FIVB Grand Slam against the world’s best teams in Brazil and China starting next week.

“I’m looking forward to that making us better,” Ross said. After the Olympics I felt like the target on me and Jen got a lot bigger, and I got a little bit used to it then. It’s going to be even bigger now. So I am looking forward to that challenge.”

For now they are focused one match at a time and taking care of what they can control on their own side of the net. But the big picture — gold in Rio — is never far from their minds.

“We have a big goal and we’re in it together,” Walsh Jennings said. “I think both of us are so excited about the potential. We’re striving for one of the most prestigious things in sports. We have all the tools it’s going to take to accomplish our goal. That’s the exciting thing and also the scary thing because we know it’s in our hands.”

Continue Reading… (via espn.com)
Salt Lake City AVP recap and Twitter guide.

Aug 22 athlete, AVP, beach, volleyball Blog, Uncategorized

I have to admit, going in, I didn’t know what to expect from a beach volleyball tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah. Especially once I found out it was supposed to be 100 degrees all weekend. Let me tell you what my experience was like and you can be the judge….

First off, for Brad (@BradKeenan6) and I to fly it would have been almost a grand so we chose the ten hour drive instead. We stopped in Beaver, Utah about seven hours in to spend the night. I felt like I needed a work out and in this tiny town there was no chance I was going to find a gym so I ran in a circle around our hotel for twenty minutes, felt kind of ridiculous, but it got the job done. In the morning we ate breakfast in one of my favorite establishments- the small town diner, it did not disappoint. Two and a half hours later we checked in to the AVP (@AVPbeach) player hotel in downtown Salt Lake.

After a delicious food truck BBQ lunch we headed over to the event site to pass and serve, this was going to be the moment of truth… As we walked up to the site (after parking in the prime “athlete parking” spots!) any doubts I had were immediately dashed. It was one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever seen! Green grass throughout, monstrous evergreens surrounding the courts, four pristine courts ready for competition, a picturesque center court complete with jumbotron, VIP suites, and court side seating, AND when we went to start practice we were supplied with as many Wilson balls as we needed! All my suspicions that we had found the right guy (Donald Sun) to lead us (the players of the AVP) were confirmed that instant, and the tournament hadn’t even started yet.

First round on Friday we played Dianne DeNecochea (no twitter), who at 6’4’’ and 45 years old is still baller and not the best first round draw, but we managed to come out on top. That was it for Day 1, so we got some great local Mexican food, saw a movie (We’re the Millers, it was hilarious), and rested up for Day 2. Unfortunately, we didn’t play very well in the first match the next day and our opponents- Christal Engle (@ChristalEngle) and Tealle Hunkus (@TealleHunkus)- brought their A game. We ended up losing that one in a close three set-er and therefore dropped into the losers bracket. BUT we were still alive! After playing every tournament internationally in a pool play/single elimination format we were stoked to be given a second chance and we definitely took advantage of it!

Luckily the day cooled off and we actually got some sprinkles. We took our next two matches in two each which brought us to Day 3. The draw would have us play Kerri (@KerriLeeWalsh) and Whit (@WhitneyPavlik) to get to the semi’s, you don’t normally see the 1 seed play the 2 seed in the contender’s bracket… This match-up could qualify for a final in any tournament so we were ready for a battle, and a battle it was! We were able to pull it out in three close sets winning 17-15 in the third and it felt like we had just won the tournament, but we had only qualified for the semi’s and would have to win two more matches if we wanted the title of SLC champs.

In the semi’s we came up against Christal and Tealle again and were stoked to have a second chance at them. We learned from our first match, adjusted accordingly, executed a little better, and won in two. On to the FINALS!!!

In the finals we played a great team that we (shockingly) had never played before- Brittany (@BrittHochevar) and Lauren (@LaurenFendrick). We were tired, it was hot, the stands were packed, and it was on TV (@CBSSportsNet); I wouldn’t expect anything less for an AVP final. Dustin Avol (the MC- @DustyGringo) did a great job getting the amazing fans fired up and after 15 minutes of warm up we were ready to go.

We played well in the first set overall, we had a slow start and ended it in a way that I plan on learning from for a very long time. We lost the first when they came from behind and scored a run of points at the end. I made myself wipe the slate clean and start over in the second. We played much better and took the second pretty handily, on to the third. Anything can happen in a third set on the beach so you HAVE to be ready to go and not assume any momentum from the second set is going to stay with you. The third set was a back and forth battle, we were up, then they were up and then thankfully at the end we were up enough to hang on for the victory.

I can’t tell you how excited I was and still am to have won this AVP Open!! Especially since it was the first stop, we hadn’t seen a lot of the competition for almost a year, it was our first competition with the Wilson ball this year, and in a place we’ve never competed before. And, to add to it, I know my time on the court with Jen (@JenniferKessy) is slowly dwindling and that makes the win that much sweeter.

I am so thankful to Donald Sun (no twitter) for taking over the tour, putting his heart and soul into it, and creating an inaugural event that really sets the bar for the sport. The fans that came out were awesome and I have a strong feeling we’ll be back next year, so you better be back too! And to all the sponsors that make it possible to play this amazing sport for a profession, my personal ones (@MizunoVolley @TheWilsonVB @4point4) and the event sponsors (@RockwellWatches + others), you guys rock!
The Conover Chronicles.

Aug 12 Blog, Uncategorized

Jen and I are in Berlin this week and just finished playing in the Grand Slam here. I definitely love this tournament, but this time it signifies the end of an era. It was the first tournament with someone other than Jeffrey “Jefe, It’s a 10” Conover as our coach. And before you think we fired him, (we’d never!) I will tell you he got a job offer he couldn’t refuse with the new and improved AVP (avp.com- check it out if you haven’t already!), so he’s off to bigger and better things… i.e. not living off of prize money. Though I am super happy for him I’m definitely going to miss him. Not just because of his talents as a coach, but even more so for everything he added to the Krossy team dynamic for all these years.

If you don’t know the story of how we ended up working with Jeff, here’s the short version. We needed a coach asap, saw him on the beach one day and said “Hey, what’s up?… Wanna coach us?” and he said “Sure, why not.” He ran us through some practices and then we threw him in the deep end. Our first event together was the FIVB World Tour event in Brasilia where I think we made it to the finals eventually losing to Brazil…. that’s when we knew this thing might actually work. Next up was a little tournament called World Championships in Stavanger, Norway, one of the most remote places we travel to, and, for frame of reference, I’m pretty sure Jeff had to order his first passport right before we took him to Brazil. Whatever magic the three of us thought we might have was solidified in Norway when we avenged our loss in Brasilia and won the World Championships. That was 2009.

For the next five years we went through some ups and downs as a team, but Jeff was always in it 100%. He went above and beyond on and off the court. In hindsight he might be able to list “team therapist” in his job description. If I was super down on how I played he’d always help me find the positive, he’d (at least pretend to) understand my complaints and gripes that naturally occur when you’re with the same people 24/7 on the road. To know he understood how I was feeling just helped, to have someone you trust enough to vent to was really an asset to me. He always pumped me up whether I thought I deserved it or not and I’m sure he did the same for Jen. He took his job seriously and worked really hard, but I think a big part of the reason we succeeded together was because he is such a great person as well.

It wasn’t all work and no play, we had a lot of fun too. We traveled the world together and got to do some pretty cool things in the process. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder than when we had our feet cleaned by bacteria eating fish in Thailand, where we also took scooters and explored all around the island of Phuket, dumping rain or shine. We celebrated many birthdays, but one of Jeff’s was especially memorable when we all dressed up in a Mexican 80’s night theme and went to Sharkeez in Huntington Beach. Laughing AT each other was another cherished pastime and one of our favorites was when Jeff got owned by a chair (the back legs slowly caved in and he just kept sinking backwards until he was laying on the ground) in Marseille while holding a gyro and proclaiming “Touché France, touché”. We pogoed dusk til dawn, at maybe the best party any of us had ever been to, at the original costume party in Klagenfurt, Austria (Jeff dressed up as a ball boy). We all lived through and made plenty of fun of his medieval bob hair cut he showed up with in Gstaad, Switzerland.

There are too many memories to recount here but some other notable ones include zip lining in Puerto Vallarta, the sobering tour of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, the many many hours spent in European dance clubs, the seemingly endless “That’s what she said” jokes at my expense, the unanswered pizza eating contest challenge (I would still win), epic ACE games, countless great conversations, and much much more I can’t recall right now, but will look back on with fondness for the rest of my life.

The ultimate experience, however, was going to the Olympics and I’m so extremely happy that we all got to do that together. That’s what we came together for in the first place and to fight so hard for four years (up to that point) and see all of our hard work come to fruition made the journey just that more meaningful and successful. Our Olympic medal is something that will bind us together for the rest of our lives and that’s something I will always be thankful for.

So I guess the only thing left to say is thanks Jefe for everything you brought to our team, it wouldn’t have been nearly the same without you!