SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
On Friday morning in Tokyo, as the sand baked in the sun and a speckling of spectators looked for patches and shade, the United States beach volleyball duo of April Ross and Alix Klineman had little to sweat in the 2020 summer Olympics championship match.
They made rather quick work of Australians Taliqua Clancy and Artacho del Solar., 21-15 and 21-16 in 43 minutes as temperatures soared to 92 degrees.
It came a day after the Americans again needed only two sets in the best-of-three format to oust Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre, 21-12, 21-11, in the semifinals.
“No doubt it was hot out there both times,” Ross said, “but we had done plenty of practicing outside and kind of got used to it, plus we did well as a team in each match, and Alix did very well switching to the beach.”
Ross won a silver medal at the 2012 Games in London with her partner Jen Kessy, and a bronze partnering with Kerri Walsh Jennings at the 2016 Rio Games.
Now with Klineman, an indoor volleyball player who made the transition to beach volleyball in 2017, Ross was able to come away with gold this time, while Klineman hung her first medal, all gold, around her neck.
“We expected both the semifinals and finals to be difficult,” Klineman said, “but we weren’t worried. We played for gold, we excelled at the net, we returned well, and April laughed when someone asked if going for any Olympic medal was getting to be old news for her.”
But the morning heat was old news for them. They said they were mentally prepared for the sweltering conditions.
Said Rose: “We prepared as hard as we could after getting past the Switz pair, and now we’re in no rush to recover.”
Klineman, the taller of the two, was strong at the net and began with five-straight blocks. It was 10-0 when the Australian women, both taller than Rose and both shorter then Klineman, finally picked up points to cut the gap to 10-4. The red, white and blue twosome contributed to this with some miscues on returns and errand shots.
The lead mounted to 16-6 when both teams headed to the sidelines for a short break, some helpful towels, and some cold water. Not long after, a Ross dart down the line resulted in the set point after 26 minutes of play.
Halfway now in her quest to add an exclusive gold medal to her collection, Ross had the quick start this time when in set two, she saved a pair of Klineman hits heading out of bounds and served three aces. It was 15-5, then 16-9, before the U.S. served for the match at 20-15, and then celebrated.
The Matildas pair hoped to follow in the beach steps of Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst, the last Australian duo to win an Olympic medal in the sport, a gold in 2000.
But their opponents in stars and stripes fared much better.
