American · Costa Mesa, California, USA · Born 20 June 1982American beach volleyball player who completed a rare full set of Olympic medals - gold, silver, and bronze - across three different partnerships spanning a decade.
April Elizabeth Ross was born on 20 June 1982 in Costa Mesa, California, and starred as an indoor player at Newport Harbor High School before winning the Gatorade National Player of the Year award and leading USC to back-to-back NCAA indoor championships in 2002 and 2003 as a three-time All-American. After three professional seasons in Puerto Rico, she transitioned to beach volleyball in 2006, winning AVP Rookie of the Year that season. Ross partnered with Jennifer Kessy from 2007, winning gold at the 2011 World Championships in Norway before taking silver at the 2012 London Olympics, falling to fellow Americans Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings in the final. She then partnered with Walsh Jennings herself for the Rio cycle, winning bronze at the 2016 Olympics. In late 2017, Ross began a partnership with Alix Klineman that would define the final chapter of her career, winning silver at the 2019 World Championships in Hamburg before the pair went undefeated through the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Ross and Klineman won all seven matches at the Tokyo Games, dropping only a single set, to defeat Australia's Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy in the final and deliver Ross her first Olympic gold - completing a rare full set of Olympic medals across three different partnerships and tying her for the second-most Olympic women's beach volleyball medals in U.S. history, behind only Kerri Walsh Jennings. Ross was named USAV Women's Beach Player of the Year eight times across her career and announced her retirement after the 2024 season, subsequently taking up college coaching at El Camino College.
Completing a rare full set of Olympic medals - gold, silver, and bronze - across three different beach volleyball partnerships
How They Played
Versatile all-round player known for elite serving and defensive positioning, capable of adapting her game to complement multiple different playing partners over a long career
Lasting Impact
Regarded as one of the most successful American beach volleyball players in Olympic history, whose ability to reach the podium with three different partners over 15 years demonstrated rare adaptability and longevity
Career Honours
- 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist, Beach Volleyball (held 2021)
- 2012 Olympic Silver and 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist
- 2011 World Champion
- 8x USAV Women's Beach Player of the Year
American Athletes