April Ross and Alix Klineman Advance to Beach Volleyball Gold Medal Match

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The “A-team” has been exactly that in Tokyo, going 5-0 and dropping just one set total in the beach volleyball tournament entering the semifinals.

That streak didn’t end for Team USA’s April Ross and Alix Klineman in the semifinals, where a win placed them in the gold medal match.

The duo beat Switzerland’s Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Heidrich 21-12 in the first set, before winning 21-11 in the second.

Ross and Klineman will face the winner of Australia and Latvia’s semifinals match. Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia and Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka of Latvia play at 9 p.m. ET.

Having won silver in 2012 and bronze in 2016, the experienced Ross — the only player left in the tournament with an Olympic medal to her name — is competing for the elusive gold. Any medal would be the first for Klineman, who recently made the shift from indoor to beach volleyball.

The gold medal match is set for Thursday night at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Beach volleyball star April Ross will be heading to the Tokyo Olympics with partner Alix Klineman, and she says finding that perfect partner is a lot like dating. "You end up texting people just saying, 'Hey, what's your plan? Do you want to get on the sand and try out? Maybe we should sit down and talk," said Ross.
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