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