Tokyo Olympics

SoCal's April Ross and Alix Klineman Win Third Straight in Beach Volleyball

The tandem from Costa Mesa and Manhattan Beach take on the Netherlands in Tokyo.

April Ross, right of the United States, and teammate Alix Klimeman wave after winning a women's beach volleyball match against Spain at the 2020 Olympics on July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.
AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris

Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman were back in action Thursday at the Tokyo Olympics when they took on a team from the Netherlands.

Rain poured hard, and Team USA's second-seeded beach volleyball team of April Ross and Alix Klineman only slipped slightly in their three-set victory against Dutch duo Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink, 20-22, 21-17, 15-5.

The two Southern Californians -- Ross is from Costa Mesa, Klineman is from Manhattan Beach -- defeated Spain 21-13, 21-16 on Tuesday morning for their second straight win. With one more game in the preliminaries left, they can do no worse than a three-way tie for first, which would be broken during a “lucky loser” matchup after the round robin.

Though they couldn't celebrate in Tokyo, the families of winning Team USA beach volleyball duo Alix Klineman and April Ross made their love known with watch parties in Hermosa Beach and Costa Mesa. Daniela Guzman reports for NBC4.

Ross, a three-time Olympian who has already won silver and bronze, and first-timer Klineman will play the Dutch team of Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink on Friday.

Ross and Klineman started the Olympics with a win over China’s Xue Chen and Wang Xinxin in straight sets, 21-17, 21-19.

Ross won bronze in Rio and a silver at the London Olympics in 2012. She parted ways with beach volleyball icon Kerri Walsh Jennings after they won bronze in Rio. 

She has been playing with Klineman, a first-time Olympian, for three years. The pair won silver at the 2019 World Championships.

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