Dear Readers~
On January 2nd through to January 6th, the first FIVB event of 2019 was held at the Hague in the Netherlands. If you've read my last blog you'll know that I talked about how the new partnership of Rio 2016 Olympian Casey Patterson and former NBA player Chase Budinger did. Don't forget to follow those boys on Instagram @caseypatt for Casey and @budinger10 for Chase. Now it's time for the girls side of the tournament. The girls team I chose to cover was London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympian April Ross and former indoor volleyball player, where she was an outside hitter, Alix Klineman. If you follow the girls on Instagram (@aprilrossbeach and @aklineman10) then you'll know that the pair won the gold medal at that same event back in 2018 and were hoping to go back to back. The problem with being number 1 is that there's nowhere to go but down. Keep reading to see if the pair won gold for a second straight year or if they fell short.
Their first games were on January 3rd. The first game was against Piersma and Stubbe, of the Netherlands. April and Alix won first set 21-11 and the second set 25-23. Their next game was against Lunde and Veseth, from Norway. April and Alix won both sets 21-19 and 21-12 along with winning both games in their pool play.
Their next game was on the 4th against Schutzenhafer and Plesiutsching, from Austria, in round 2. April and Alix won that game 21-14 for the first set and 21-15 for the second set. That game against Austria was their only game on the 4th so they had a break until their next game.
Their next game was on the 5th against Behrens and Ittlinger, from Germany, in round 3. April and Alix had a tough start by losing the first set 18-21 to the Germans. They got their revenge in the second set by winning 21-18 and causing a third set to happen. The third set ended 15-4 with April and Alix winning and moving on to the semifinals.
The semifinals was later that day against Ana Patricia and Rebecca, from Brazil. The game was tough for April and Alix because the first set ended 21-17 and the second set ended 21-19, with April and Alix losing both sets and moving on to play for the bronze instead of gold.
The bronze medal game was the day on the 6th against Lahti and Parkkinen, of Finland. April and Alix won the first set 21-15f, but the Finnish team got their revenge by winning the second set 21-13 and causing a third set. The third set ended 15-6 with April and Alix taking home the fourth place finish.
The pair didn't get the finish they got the previous year but with this event being the third stop of the road to the Tokyo qualifying, pressure was on for all teams competing to do good.
That concludes the summary of Alix and April's first international performance of 2019. Make sure to mark your calendars for May 3, 2019 when the AVP kicks off their 2019 season with the Huntington Beach Open where not only April and Alix will be playing, but also other athletes like Chase plaing with Casey, who I talked about in my other blog, Jake Gibb playing with Taylor Crabb, and also Geena Urango playing with Caitlin Ledoux.
Also April has a blog of her own. In her most recent blog she explains the qualifiers for the Olympics. if you're interested, click the link below and give her a follow on Instagram.
https://l.instagram.com/?u=https%3A%2F%2Faprilrossvolley.wordpress.com%2F&e=ATNS5ffU77DL9fus4coOkhFA4KSppcXgTLEhtcZjw2VSA_iAAkLgrT5FHbdc_wpkE9q-CRsITBbdugWMqi1J0enUK-dMS7zi
Don't forget to check out some of my previous blogs and until next time, Miller out
~J. Miller
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