Alix Klineman/April Ross Take Home AVP Champions Cup, Porsche Cup
MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Alix Klineman and April Ross could not be stopped Sunday, taking home the coveted AVP Champions Cup after winning 3 consecutive Association of Volleyball Professionals tournaments in Long Beach. In so doing, they took home the cup for the Monster Hydro, Wilson and Porsche tournaments and a good amount of prize money.
In their first game on Sunday, the "A Team" beat Kelley Kolinske and Emily Stockman, 21-18, 21-17. They then took on Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil in a thrilling game, winning 21-18, 21-17 to win the Porsche Cup. Given that they'd also won the Wilson and Monster Hydro cups the previous two weekends, they also took home the Champions Cup for being the best women's team overall in the three tournaments. They finished all three tourneys with a perfect record, the only team men or women, to do so.
Th 6'5" Klineman graduated from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach as well as Stanford University, where she was an indoor volleyball star. She competed professionally overseas for five seasons and switched to playing beach volleyball in 2017. And more accolades continued to come in. In her first AVP season, she was voted Rookie of the Year, and in 2018, she teamed up with Ross, winning four AVP events. For 2018, she was named Best Blocker, Most Improved, and Team of the Year. In 2019, the A-Team took home three AVP titles, with Klineman being named Best Blocker and Team of the Year. The duo is currently ranked as the number 2 team in the world.
Klineman can be seen talking about the sport and her injuries in a video on YouTube. She talks about her professional indoor volleyball career as well as why she enjoys playing beach volleyball now and its significance to her.
Ross is no stranger to beach volleyball, having played with another Manhattan Beach resident, Kerri Walsh Jennings. The team of Walsh Jennings and Ross went undefeated in the 2015 AVP season and qualified for the Rio Olympics, where they took home the Bronze Medal for the U.S. in 2016. Like Klineman, Ross was a high school, college and pro indoor volleyball standout with countless honors. She transitioned to beach volleyball in 2006.
Klineman and Ross won two Golds Medals on the FIVB Tour in 2019 and the Silver Medal at the 2019 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. The "A Team" is on track to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021.
Read more about their quest for Olympic Gold along with news on Walsh Jennings and her partner Brooke Sweat here.
Klineman and Ross won the Manhattan Beach Open in 2018 and then lost in the final in 2019 to Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan. They beat the Canadians every time they faced them in the Champions Cup, which the AVP staged sans live fans due to COVID-19 concerns and protocols. The Champions Cup replaced the AVP's previously announced 2020 tour, which would have included the famous Manhattan Beach Open.
This article originally appeared on the Manhattan Beach Patch
