April Ross and Alix Klineman notched the biggest title of their two-year beach volleyball partnership and consolidated their lead in U.S. Olympic qualifying on Sunday.
Ross, a two-time Olympic medalist, and Klineman, in her third beach season since switching from indoor, won an FIVB World Tour Major Series event in Gstaad, Switzerland. Major events carry the most Olympic qualifying points of any tournament outside the world championships.
Ross and Klineman, who earned world champs silver a week ago, swept three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat 21-17, 21-13 in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Then on Sunday, they swept Swiss Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart 22-20, 21-17 in the semifinals and rallied past Brazilians Maria Antonelli and Carol Salgado 15-21, 21-17, 15-12 in the final.
Ross and Klineman have won four FIVB World Tour events since they began playing together at the start of the 2018 season. They’ve made at least the quarterfinals in their last 11 World Tour events.
Ross and Walsh Jennings split in 2017, less than a year after taking bronze in Rio. Ross earned world silver with Lauren Fendrick in 2017 before picking up former Stanford indoor player Klineman later that year.
Ross and Klineman have a comfortable lead for one of two U.S. Olympic spots more than halfway through the two-year qualifying window. Walsh Jennings and Sweat are in second place after a boost as the only other U.S. pair to make the quarterfinals in Gstaad.
There is one more major event this season in two weeks in Vienna.
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