and
John Kerry Professional career In 2008, with her beach partner
Jennifer Kessy during the
Swatch FIVB World Tour 2008, they finished in third place at the ConocoPhillips Grand Slam Stavanger, second place at the
Dubai Open and first place at the Phuket Thailand Open, where she was named the Most Outstanding Player. On September 7, 2008, Ross and Kessy upset the World No. 1 duo of
Misty May-Treanor and
Kerri Walsh at an AVP tournament in
Santa Barbara, California. On July 4, 2009, Kessy and Ross won the FIVB World Championships in Stavanger, Norway defeating Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca. As of April 2012, Ross had eight AVP and nine FIVB 1st-place finishes overall, as well as over $937,813 in total prize money. which was part of the
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. They won the gold medal in straight sets (21–16, 21–16).
Partnering with Klineman (right) in 2019 At the end of 2017, Ross and
Alix Klineman became beach volleyball partners. Klineman and Ross won the
FIVB Dela Beach Open in January 2018, which was the first tournament they played together. During the
2018 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Klineman and Ross won four tournament events: the Austin Open, the
Manhattan Beach Open, the Championships (in Chicago), and the Hawaii Invitational. In mid-October 2018, Klineman and Ross won their second FIVB tournament event, earning the gold medal over Brazil at the Yangzhou Open. They were named the AVP Team of the Year at the AVP Award Banquet that November. In 2019, their success continued as they won the
Huntington Beach and New York City Open AVP tour events, and won the FIVB Itapema Open mid-May. They also won the silver medal at the
2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships in
Hamburg, Germany. In July 2020 the two won the AVP Monster Hydro Cup and the Wilson Cup, and in August they won the AVP Champions Cup. In August 2021, two weeks after winning gold at the
Olympics, the pair won the AVP Manhattan Beach Open, their second time winning this tournament together. The two teamed up again for the 2024 AVP season, qualifying for the brand new AVP League via wild card.
Olympic career In the
2012 London Olympics, No. 4 seed Ross and Kessy won the
Silver Medal by defeating Brazil's No. 1 seed team of
Juliana and
Larissa in a semi-final match after dropping the first set. They lost to teammates
Misty May-Treanor and
Kerri Walsh Jennings in the
Gold Medal final straight sets by an identical score of 16–21. On June 26, 2013, Ross teamed up with Walsh-Jennings to train for the
2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Ross played as a defender behind Walsh Jennings' block. Seeded at No. 3, Ross and Walsh Jennings lost to Brazil's No. 2 seed team of
Agatha and
Barbara in straight sets of 20–22 and 18–21 in a semi-final match. They defeated the No. 1 seed Brazil team of
Larissa and
Talita in the
Bronze Medal match for Ross's second Olympic medal. On August 6, 2021, Klineman and Ross captured the gold medal in the
2020 Summer Olympics, after winning in straight sets versus Australia. In the entire tournament, they went undefeated in match play, and only lost one set throughout 7 matches. The win allowed Ross to complete the trifecta of winning an Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medals. ==Awards==