Tokyo Olympics

4 to Watch: SoCal's April Ross and Alix Klineman Are Moving on in Beach Volleyball

Beach volleyball teammates from Costa Mesa and Manhattan Beach prevailed in a win-or-go-home matchup against Cuba.

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If you had a relaxing beach day in mind to wrap up the weekend, this wasn't it.

The stakes and intensity were high when the Southern California team of April Ross and Alix Klineman carried an undefeated record into its Round of 16 win-or-go-home beach volleyball matchup against Cuba.

In more Day 10 action, Diamond Bar's Alex Morgan and the U.S. women's soccer team face Canada, more medals are at stake in track and field and the men's water polo team tries to turn the tide.

Here are four storylines to watch on Day 10 of the Tokyo Olympics. This article will be updated with results.

April Ross and Alix Klineman improved to 3-0 in pool play after the U.S. duo beat Sanne Keizer and Madeleine Meppelink of the Netherlands.

SoCal's Ross and Klineman Open the Round of 16 With a Victory

April Ross and Alix Klineman kept Team USA’s hopes for a beach volleyball medal alive with a win over Cuba to open the Round of 16.

Ross and Klineman stormed back after trailing early in the second set to earn a hard-fought 21-17, 21-15 win over Cuba. 

Three-time Olympian Ross, of Costa Mesa, and Klineman, of Manhattan Beach will play Germany in the quarterfinals.

After Ross and Klineman won the first set, Cuba struck back with a 6-1 advantage to open the in the second, including two aces. A controversial interference at the net, which led to a tie at 9-9, seemed to help turn the tide in favor of Klineman and Ross, who pulled away for the win.

The U.S. women beat Spain 21-13, 21-16 on Tuesday morning for their second straight win after topping China in the opener. They closed out pool play with a win over the Netherlands.

Ross is a three-time Olympian who has already won silver and bronze. She paired with first-timer Klineman after parting ways with beach volleyball icon Kerri Walsh Jennings after they won bronze in Rio. 

The two have been playing together for three years and won silver at the 2019 World Championships.

They're the last remaining hope the U.S. has for a medal after a resilient Canada team eliminated the pair of USC's Kelly Claes and UCLA's Sarah Sponcil.

The U.S. women’s soccer team will face off against Canada in the semifinals on Monday morning.

U.S. Women's Soccer Team Out of Gold Medal Contention After Semifinal Loss to Canada

The quarterfinal thriller against the Dutch was a grueling instant classic and one to savor, but the job was far from done for the United States women’s national soccer team.

After escaping with a nail-biting, penalty shootout win over the Netherlands on Friday, the USWNT missed out on gold for the second straight Olympics after losing to Canada 1-0 win in the semifinal.

Canada’s Jessica Fleming capitalized on a penalty kick opportunity in the 74th minute to give Canada a 1-0 lead over the U.S. women’s soccer team.

After a video review, it was determined Fleming was fouled in the box and was given the chance to score the lone goal of the game. Goalkeeper Adrianna Franch, who replaced an injured Alyssa Naeher, read it the right way, but the shot was too far away from her outstretched arms to save.

The USWNT will have a chance to reach the podium in Thursday's bronze medal match against the loser of the other women's semifinal between Australia and Sweden.

Watch the game on USA Network, or stream live.

U.S. Men's Water Polo Falls to Greece in Final Game Before Quarterfinals

The United States men's water polo team was crushed in its final game of the preliminary round by Greece 14-5. Team USA has already locked down the fourth and final quarterfinal spot in Group A with four points before tonight’s match.

But while Sunday night's game did not hold any significance for the U.S. standings-wise, the team was trying to gain some momentum entering the knockout round. After starting the preliminary round with two straight wins, the United States lost its last two matchups by a combined four goals. The defeat to Greece now makes it three consecutive losses heading into knock-out play.

After winning its first two matchups against Japan and South Africa, Team USA lost to Italy and Hungary by a combined four goals. Alex Bowen has scored multiple goals in each game so far for the Americans.

Greece, meanwhile, is looking to finish off an undefeated group play stage. Along with a draw against Italy, the Greeks have beaten Hungary, Japan and South Africa. 

The 2016 Olympics were the first time the U.S. men’s team failed to qualify for the quarterfinals, finishing ninth place after going 2-3-0 in group play. A loss on Sunday would give them the same record and put them in danger of advancing once again.

Players with Southern California connections on the team are Alex Wolf (Huntington Beach/UCLA ), Ben Hallock (Westlake Village), Hannes Daube (Long Beach/USC), Johnny Hooper (Los Angeles), Marko Vavic (Rancho Palos Verdes/USC) and Max Irving (Long Beach/UCLA).

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Elaine Thompson-Herah and Sydney McLaughlin Return to the Track

The first session of the evening is highlighted by two finals: men’s long jump and women’s 100m hurdles.

Juvaughn Harrison is attempting the astonishing feat of competing in the high jump, where he is a medal favorite, and long jump in Tokyo. 

JuVaughn Harrison finished fifth in men's long jump in his Olympic debut with a jump of 8.15m.

Miltiádis Tentóglou of Greece won gold with a jump of 8.41m with his 6th and final attempt. This will be Greece's first medal in men's long jump. Cuban teammates Juan Miguel Echevarría and Maykel Massó claimed silver and bronze medals respectively. The United States won gold at the 2016 Rio Games but will not take the podium in Tokyo.

Keni Harrison finished second to claim silver in women's 100m hurdles, posting a time of 12.52 in her Olympic debut. Harrison, who is the world record-holder in the event, was a strong favorite to take gold.

Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won gold with a time of 12.37. Camacho-Quinn, who set the Olympic record in the semifinals with a time of 12.26, is the sister of Chicago Bears linebacker Robert Quinn. She ran for Puerto Rico, where their mother was born. This is Puerto Rico’s first-ever gold medal in track and field.

The first session also featured men’s hammer throw qualifying, Round 1 of the women’s 1500m and Round 1 of the women’s 200m. Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah, fresh off setting an Olympic record in the women’s 100m, will begin her quest to defend her gold medal in the 200m.

The second session also includes action in the women’s pole vault, women’s 200m, men’s 400m and women’s 400m hurdles.

World record holder Sydney McLaughlin and U.S. superstar Dalilah Muhammad had to run through more than hurdles on Monday.

The two Team USA medal contenders won their semifinal heats in the women's 400m hurdles as the event went on through a downpour.

World record holder Sydney McLaughlin and fellow American Dalilah Muhammad were in separate women’s 400m semifinals ahead of a must-watch final late Monday night.

McLaughlin won her heat with a time of 53.03 seconds, just 1.13 seconds off her record time. She easily crossed the finish line ahead of the competition in her Round 1 heat last week with a time of 54.65 seconds.

Reigning champion Dalilah Muhammad also clinched a spot in the final and will defend her title from the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muhammad crossed the finish line first in the first semifinal heat with a time of 53.30 seconds. She ran a 54.97 time in Round 1.

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