APRIL ROSS & KERRI WALSH JENNINGS
| USA Volleyball Beach Team of the Year Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross
were named USA Volleyball’s Beach Team of the Year in 2016. It marks the third time Ross has earned the designation and second for Walsh Jennings, but the first time earn- ing the honor together. Ross teamed with Jennifer Kessy to win the award in 2009 and 2012. Walsh Jennings won with Misty May- Treanor in the inaugural year of the award, in 2007.
JORDAN LARSON | USA Volleyball Female Indoor Player of the Year
Jordan Larson has been selected as the 2016 USA Volleyball Female
Indoor Player of the Year for the second consecutive time for the U.S. Team that won the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics. “I feel so honored,” Larson said upon hearing the news. “These past two years have been both challenging but so rewarding at the same time. I am so thankful to be surrounded with such great teammates, coaches and people who make me and allow me to be the best version of myself ev- ery single day. I couldn’t have done this without them. I am so grateful. During the 2016 Olympics, Larson averaged 2.69 kills, 0.34 blocks and 0.28 aces per set with an overall 3.31 points average.
RODERICK GREEN | USA Volleyball Male Sitting Player of the Year
The veteran Roderick
Green has been named the USA Volleyball Male Sitting Player of the Year. At middle blocker, Green, 37, was the U.S. Men’s Sitting Team’s leading scorer at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Green started all 14 sets the Team USA played in Rio. His best performance came in a five-set loss to Germany where he scored 17 points.
The U.S. Men’s National Team had not competed at the Paralympics
since 2004. Green was one of only three players on the team who had been to the Paralympic Games before.
APRIL ROSS | USA Volleyball Female Beach Player of the Year
RACHAEL ADAMS | USA Volleyball Female Indoor Most Improved Player
Rachael Adams has been tabbed as the 2016 USA Volleyball Female Indoor Most Improved Player of the Year. Adams played in 60 sets during 2016 with averages of 3.37 points, 2.23 kills, 0.82 blocks and 0.32 aces per set. She held a .457 hitting ef- ficiency in starting all eight matches at the Olympics.
“I had many setbacks during the summer of 2015, and during those moments I was left with a choice to make: to either let the setbacks defeat me or keep pushing, trust my process and hold my vision of where I want to be.”
For the fourth-consecutive year, April Ross is taking home USA Volleyball’s highest accolade as the Beach Female Player of the Year. “In 2016, April Ross was voted Best Server on
the FIVB World Tour, won multiple medals on Tour, took home the bronze medal at the Olympic Games and led all players in digs at the Games. USAV is honored to name her the 2016 Female Beach Player of the Year,” USAV Beach National Programs Director Sean Scott said. Ross and partner Kerri Walsh Jennings earned five gold medals on the FIVB
World Tour, including three straight.“I’m really honored to be named USA Volley- ball’s Player of the Year again this year. I can’t believe it’s my sixth time,” Ross said. “The past season was definitely the best one of my career and I have to thank Kerri, Marcio (Sicoli), Jon (Daze), and Gustavo (Rocha) for that. I’ve learned so much from all of them the past four years, I’m very thankful I was given that opportunity. I love the USAV family so it makes this award all the more meaningful, so thanks to them as well!”
USAVOLLEYBALL.ORG | 15 “Combine the 2016 Olympic Games
bronze medal won by Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross with the multiple medals they won on the FIVB World Tour leading up to the Games and it’s easy to see why USAV named them the 2016 Beach Team of the Year,” USAV Beach National Programs Director Sean Scott said. Both players persevered after a 2015 season ended with a fifth shoulder surgery
for Walsh Jennings. The pair responded by regaining their form in time for the Olympics in Rio, winning five straight matches before suffering a semifinal loss to Brazil. Walsh Jennings and Ross bounced back to win the bronze medal 24 hours later in one of the most memorable matches of the year.
JOSH SMITH | USA Volleyball Male Sitting Most Improved Player
Rookie Josh Smith has been named the U.S. Men’s Sitting Team’s Most Improved Player. Smith, 29, joined the team in 2015 after being noticed at the 2014 Marine Corps Trials. Smith, whose only previous volley- ball experience was an occasional sand- court game, joined the resident team at the University of Central Oklahoma in 2015. “It definitely helped to be a resident,”
Smith said. “I don’t think I would have improved nearly as fast without that.” “I feel like I got more consistent in my play. I am better able to read what was going to happen and where the play was going to go.”
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