April Ross

April Ross was born and raised in Orange County, California. She took up volleyball when she was 13 years old and while attending Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, Ross was on both the track and volleyball teams, becoming the top volleyball recruit in the United States for her graduating class. She won the Gatorade National Player of the Year award as a senior and was the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Player of the Year in her junior and senior years. This resulted in Ross earning a volleyball scholarship to the prestigious and world-renown University of Southern California (USC) where she enrolled in 2000. During her fours years at USC, playing the position of outside hitter, the team went to the NCAA Final Four three times and won the National Championship in 2002 and 2003. Individually, she earned numerous accolades including National Freshman of the Year and being named an All-American each of her four years. Following her tenure at USC, Ross played professional volleyball in Puerto Rico for two years, but eventually all the years of competitive playing took their toll causing her great physical pain, particularly in her shoulders and knees, that she decided to retire from the sport. She would go on to work as a hostess at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California, while trying to figure out what career path to pursue in order to make a living for her future. During this time, one of her former teammates from USC, Keao Burdine, convinced Ross to try out beach volleyball, insisting it was very different from indoor volleyball, and would not cause the same physical strains on her body. In 2006, Ross partnered on the beach volleyball circuit with Burdine, Barbra Fontana and Nancy Mason. In 2007, Ross teamed up with Jennifer Kessy, who was also a former USC volleyball player. The pair immediately set themselves the goal of qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. During 2007, they became the lowest seeded team (29th) ever to win an FIVB event and in 2008, were in the semifinals in all but one AVP event. However, Kessy and Ross missed qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, despite finishing seventh in the world rankings, as they were ranked third among American teams with each country only allowed a maximum of two teams to participate in the Olympics. By failing to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, Ross and Kessy decided to refocus their efforts on the 2012 Olympic Games in London. They decided to increase their cardiovascular workouts, adopt healthier diets, and hired a coach who would also travel with them to tournaments. Their efforts paid off almost immediately when in 2009, Kessy and Ross appeared in the finals of nine of their 10 regular season AVP events, winning four times, and on the FIVB Tour they won the World Championships in Stavanger, Norway. In 2012, Ross and Kessy achieved their goal by qualifying for the Olympic Games in London, where they represented the United States of America. Despite being seeded number four entering the games, the pair made an improbable and undefeated run to the Gold Medal game, with a record of 6-0, including a semifinal win against the number one ranked team in the world, Brazil's Larissa Franca and Juliana Silva, who had beaten Kessy and Ross in each of their previous nine meetings. Kessy and Ross would go on to win the Silver Medal at the 2012 London Olympics.