COVER STORY
April Ross: Chapter II
The incredible run to the silver medal stand at the London Olympics is still fresh in her mind, but April Ross is ready to produce some new highlights – this year with her longtime partner, Jen Kessy, and then with three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings.
By Don Patterson A
fter two NCAA champion- ships at the University of Southern California, 25 pro beach titles and an Olympic
silver medal, what’s the next frontier for April Ross?
Uh, hitting and serving with her left
hand. Yep. That’s a goal.
She mentions this at an eatery in Costa Mesa, Calif., over a salad lunch, which is in line with her new “Paleo Diet.” It’s late February, and she and longtime partner Jen Kessy are already in overdrive, training diligently for another year of FIVB competition and whatever domestic tourna- ments the sport has to offer.
“In preseason, I was adamant that I wanted to learn how to hit with my left hand,” she says. “I’ve thought about it a lot in the past, but I had never really tried it before this year. I
would love to have a left-handed serve, too.” She pauses, then adds another thought ac- companied by a smile that morphs into a laugh: “But I’ve kind of put those on the shelf for now because, fi rst things fi rst. I’ve got to make sure I’m good with my right hand.” A few days later, Kessy weighs in on the topic, and she’s clearly happy at the news that Ross intends to mothball left-handed play for the foreseeable future.
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“She’s killing me with that – killlllllling me,” Kessy says. “And she knows it’s kill- ing me. I waited a couple of practices to say something, and then one morning I fi nally said, ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’ Every time she would do it, it would be like, ‘Oh my gahhhd.’ I wanted to say, ‘If I give you a good set and you hit it into the net with your left hand, I’m going to kill you. “It’s not natural for April, not like Rosie
PHOTO: PETER BROUILLET
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