Beach May 2018

each sports
determined to take advantage of
every day of training and do everything
we can to maximize our
growth as a team.”
A summer full of volleyball
Mira Costa High School alum Alix Klineman has quickly risen up the ranks since beginning her pro beach volleyball
career last season. Photo by Ray Vidal
by Randy Angel
Over the last decade, South
Bay beaches have become
home to numerous professional
players who take advantage
of the mild climate and deep sand.
This year, there is a new player to
focus on. Alix Klineman rose to
fame as the 2006-07 Gatorade National
Volleyball Player of the Year
at Mira Costa High School. She continued
her standout career at Stanford
University, followed by a stint
with the U.S. National Team and a
career overseas.
Seeking a new challenge, the 6-
foot-4 Klineman retired from the indoor
game and has quickly risen
through the ranks of beach volleyball.
Last year she was named the
AVP Rookie of the Year award.
“From a physical aspect, it took a
lot longer than I thought it would to
get my sand legs,” Klineman said. “I
also had to take a step back and
look at the demands of the beach
game and change the way I train
(both on the court and in the weight
room) to increase my fitness and
have the endurance to play two to
three intense matches a day for two
to four consecutive days. Volleyballwise,
blocking and setting have definitely
been the most challenging
skills to pick up on the beach. Setting
is difficult just because that’s
something I didn’t train for indoors,
and blocking has been an adjustment
because the timing and the
strategy are so much different on
the beach.”
After partnering with former
Mira Costa standouts Jace Pardon
and Lane Carico, Klineman has
joined forces this season with April
Ross, a proven winner on the domestic
and international circuits.
Ross won the silver medal at the
2012 London Olympics with Jennifer
Kessy and the bronze at the
2016 Rio de Janeiro with Kerri
Walsh Jennings.
“The partnership has really been
going smoothly. Not just because
we won a tournament, but I think
the way we work and compete
mesh really well together,” Klineman
said. “She’s been incredibly
patient with me as I’ve tried to
adapt to the international level. She
does so many things well, but the
things that stand out are her ability
to always better the ball, her constant
talk throughout the play, and
her ability to anticipate how the
play is going to unfold. I’m constantly
taking note of all these ‘little’
things she’s great at and trying
to incorporate them more into my
game.”
In January, the pair won gold at
the DELA Beach Open, a four-star
FIVB World Tour event, at The
Hague, Netherlands.
They beat Brazil’s Carolina Solberg
Salgado and Maria Antonelli
in the final, 21-12, 21-15. They
went 10-0 in the tournament, including
two country quota
matches and two qualifiers before
beginning pool play.
They came home to compete in
last week’s FIVB four-star tournament
in Huntington Beach and
have their sights on the 2020
Olympics.
“Our goals are big and we’re
aiming to win tournaments,” Klineman
added. “We have a lot of room
for improvement still, but we
know when we play our best we
can compete with anyone. But on
a more basic level, I think we are
AVP Tour returns to
Hermosa
Thurs. -- Sun., July 26, 29
The AVP returns to Hermosa
Beach for the first time since 2010.
The Hermosa Open had previously
been held every year since 1984. In
1990, NBC’s inaugural telecast of
beach volleyball took place at the
event.
The Hermosa Beach Open will
consist of 24 Main Draw teams for
men and women – 14 auto entries,
2 wild cards and 8 qualifier teams.
The Manhattan Beach Open, the
“Wimbledon” of beach volleyball,
takes place Aug. 16-19. The winning
male and female will have
their names placed on bronze
plaques on the Manhattan Beach
Pier.This year’s tournament is the
second of three events of the AVP
Gold Series, with a purse of
$225,000 compared to the $150,00
of regular AVP tournaments. The
Manhattan Beach Open will be
made up of 32 Main Draw teams
for men and women – 14 auto entries,
10 wild cards (with many of
them coming from the AVPNext
circuit) and 8 qualifier teams.
General admission is free for
both events.
Avp.com
Collegiate Beach
Championships
Wed. -- Sat., May 9 - 12
Hermosa Beach
The 2018 Team USA Summer
Champions Series presented by
Xfinity makes its first stop at the
Bridgestone USA Volleyball Collegiate
Beach Championships.The
dual-gendered event returns with a
32-team women's bracket and an
8-team men's competition. Main
draw action, which consists of pool
play and a single-elimination
bracket, begins Thursday. Players
will vie for a spot to compete in the
FISU World University Championships
in Munich, Germany, July
9-13.
Teamusa.org
AAU
Sun., May 20
Sun., June 10
Tues. - Sat., July 10 - 14
The Amateur Athletic Union’s
14 Easy Reader / Beach magazine • May 10, 2018