Lausanne, Switzerland, December 15, 2016 – April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings have been rewarded for their efforts over 2016 by being named as the USA Beach Volleyball Team of the Year.
The pair’s highlight came at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games where they won bronze by beating Brazil’s Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-9) in the bronze medal match at Copacabana Beach.
For Ross it is the third time that she has won the award, while it is Walsh Jennings’ second.
They also won five gold medals on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. They started the year with gold at the Rio de Janeiro Grand Slam and later topped the podium at the Long Beach and Moscow Grand Slams and Cincinnati and Fuzhou Opens.
Ross and Walsh Jennings also claimed World Tour silver twice and bronze once.
“I am so glad Kerri and I got this award this year, it has been a long, great, even though sometimes bumpy, road and I'm so proud of how we handled it all and were able to bring home the bronze medal at the Olympics,” Ross said.
“Winning the team award, in many ways, signifies mission accomplished,” Walsh Jennings said. “Our team (April, Marcio Sicoli, Jon Daze, Gustavo Rocha) worked so hard every step of the way and it was an honour to chase big dreams with them. They made it all so very worth it and special.”