April Ross and Alix Klineman Win AVP Chicago Gold Series Title

CHICAGO – USC women's volleyball All-American and two-time Olympic medalist April Ross and partner Alix Klineman (Stanford) paired to claim the 2018 AVP (American Volleyball Professionals) Gold Series Chicago Open championship on Sunday, Sept. 2. Ross-Klineman also won the AVP's Austin Open to kick off the American pro beach season and were crowned champions of the Manhattan Beach Open in mid-August.

While Ross won the title, it was USC senior Terese Cannon who made the largest leap as she and partner Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) pushed their way to a semifinal third-place finish. It was a career-best finish for Cannon and the second-best finish for Sponcil who had previously taken second place in Austin with Lauren Fendrick (UCLA). Cannon-Sponcil earned the 18th seed out of the qualifier and won their first match before falling to USC All-American Kelly Claes and Brittany Hochevar (Long Beach State) in the second round. They then fought through the consolation bracket to earn one of four semifinal spots.

Four-time USC All-American Sara Hughes and partner Summer Ross met the Ross-Klineman duo in the final. While Hughes-Ross were previously undefeated, they suffered their first and only AVP loss of the season in the title match. Ross-Klineman took down Hughes-Ross, 25-23, 21-16, to win the Chicago championship.

This AVP win is the third for Ross and Klineman--a newly-formed pair this summer--but is the 32nd-career victory for Ross. Her win represents the 51st individual Trojan AVP women's victory and marks the 38th event won by at least one female USC athlete. Between Ross, Hughes, and Claes, at least one USC player has won 16 of the last 29 AVP events since the 2015 season.

Seeded third in a highly-competitive field, Ross-Klineman started their run with a three-set win over Corinne Quiggle (Pepperdine) and Kimberly Smith (Florida International) in the first round, 21-14, 19-21, 15-12. Ross-Klineman earned a spot in the winner's quarterfinals with a 21-14, 21-13 win over Nicole Branagh (Minnesota) and Caitlin Ledoux (Long Beach State). Their third win was a 21-16, 21-18 victory against Brittany Howard (Stanford) and Kelly Reeves (UCLA). In the semifinal, Ross-Klineman took down Claes and Hochevar in straight sets, 21-19, 22-20, for their spot in the final.

Among other Women of Troy at the Chicago Open, Falyn Fonoimoana and partner Priscilla Piantadosi-Lima (Louisiana) earned a spot through the qualifier but were defeated in the first round. They won two matches in the consolation bracket before being eliminated. Nicolette Martin and partner Tory Paranagua (Florida State) also earned main-draw status through the qualifier but fell in back-to-back matches in the winner's and consolation draws. USC All-American Allie Wheeler and fellow Trojan Geena Urango held the seventh seed in the main draw but were defeated in their first match and went 1-1 in the consolation bracket.

On the men's side, USC indoor volleyball star Tri Bourne and partner Trevor Crabb finished in a fifth-place tie. Trojan twins Riley and Maddison McKibben finished in 13th place.

This past spring, the Women of Troy (27-14) finished as the runner-up at the Pac-12 Championship and were chosen as one of two at-large selections into the 2018 NCAA Championship. The Trojans advanced to the Saturday final at the championship and finished in fourth place. Seventh-year head coach Anna Collier collected her 170th victory this season. Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina were named AVCA All-Americans and were chosen as the Volleyball Magazine National Pair of the Year.

For more information on the three-time national champion USC beach volleyball team and a complete schedule, please visit USCTrojans.com and follow @USCBeach on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Players Mentioned

Abril Bustamante

Terese Cannon

Kelly Claes

Tina Graudina

Sara Hughes

Nicolette Martin

Allie Wheeler