Tuesday Talent: April Ross

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April keeps her eyes on the ball during the Gstaad Major. Photocredit: Martin Steinthaler.

The whoops and cheers of delight in the Swatch Major Series office were so loud they could have been heard on America’s West Coast.

It happened two weeks ago when the news broke that April Ross would partner Kerri Walsh Jennings at the Fort Lauderdale Major after all.

To have one of the world’s successful beach volleyball partnerships strutting their stuff on the sand in Fort Lauderdale is a pretty big deal – and you only have to look at the 34-year-old’s glittering career to realize how much of a star April is.

Having been in the shadow of arguably America’s all-time superstar team of Kerri and Misty May-Treanor, April has become a legend in her own right, winning medal after medal on the international and domestic scene since she made her debut on the FIVB Tour in 2006.

At home on the AVP Tour, April has clinched no less than 32 gold medals from 103 tournaments, 13 silvers and 18 bronzes. Not bad, huh? Then add to that haul a further 21 golds, 15 silvers and 12 bronzes that she has scooped on the World Tour and you begin to get a picture that April’s trophy cabinet is over-flowing with glorious awards.

Last season was no exception: together with Kerri, April won five gold medals from just 11 tournaments and never finished outside the top five at a tournament during the 2016 campaign. One of the two bronze medals won in the past 12 months was particularly special – it came on the Copacabana at the Rio Olympics. It was April’s second Olympic medal having secured silver in London four years ago when she and Jennifer Kessy lost out to Kerri and Misty.

Her achievements in the sport mark her down as one of the all-time greats. No wonder we were jumping for joy when we heard she was good to go for 2017 on the beach.

April became the first American woman to win the FIVB Rookie of the Year award in 2007 while in 2015 she set a record by becoming the first woman to win domestic titles in the same season with three different partners. So if you think her recent success is down to Kerri – who she first joined forces with three years ago – think again!

See you in Fort Lauderdale, April!