She keeps delivering like an ace
The way April Ross puts a volleyball into play has served her well over the years.
April Ross is often the first on the sand before matches, and she walks toward the baseline spinning a volleyball in her hands.
With an empty court before her, she’s able to unleash jump serves with abandon. Sometimes they smack into the net. Sometimes they miss long and skip out of the playing area. Usually they fly just over the net, sink with great speed and land right inside the back line.
Then the other three players warm up, the match starts and Ross’ serve takes center stage.
“There’s zero fear or doubt going on in this woman right now,” said Kerri Walsh Jennings, Ross’ partner, after the pair advanced to the finals of the Long Beach Grand Slam on Saturday.
“So she just needs to live in that because it’s really fun to play with and she’s putting on a great show. It’s awesome.”
Walsh Jennings and Ross, the top U.S. women’s team who are coming off a bronze medal in Rio, attracted a capacity crowd for its semifinal win over Germany’s Julie Sude and Chantal Laboureur.
Every seat was filled, fans lined the aisles and a bunch more leaned on the railings along the stadium’s edges. That led to loud a cheer each time the Americans won a point, and an audible gasp each time Ross let loose another punishing serve.
As Walsh Jennings and Ross chase the Grand Slam’s $57,000 first-place prize, Ross’ jump serve has two purposes: Keeping the pair in control, and giving the home crowd something to hang on. They’ll face Spain’s Liliana Fernandez and Elsa Baquerizo in the women’s final Sunday. Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, the top U.S. men’s team, will face Brazil’s Evandro Guerra and Pedro Solberg in the men’s championship.
“Sometimes I’m suckered in when people are cheering for me serving to go harder and harder and harder,” said Ross, a Costa Mesa native and USC graduate. “But no, I have to stay with what feels right for my serve.”
A majority of players, including Walsh Jennings, serve from a stationary position. That lets them emphasize placement and getting the ball in play but rarely leads to the momentumshifting aces Ross is known for.
Before each serve, the 34year-old stands five steps behind the court and waits for Walsh Jennings’ behind-theback sign. She then takes a deep breath, pauses for a moment and walks into a delivery that includes two steps, a hop and contact with the spinning ball at the peak of her underhand toss.
Ross’ momentum carries her onto the court as her serve knuckles over the net. If an opponent gets to it, they can’t bump the ball without stumbling backward. If they don’t, Ross and Walsh Jennings are usually left celebrating an easy point.
“I love jump-serving here, the conditions are kind of perfect for it,” Ross said. “And it’s just fun. I’m just throwing it up and going after it.”
Long Beach’s hard surface allows Ross to jump just a bit higher, and the crosswinds off the ocean make it so she’s serving into the wind on both sides of the court. Other than that, she loves serving here because of the success she’s found in recent summers.
Sunday will be the pair’s third straight Long Beach Grand Slam final, and Ross’ serve pushed them to it. She collected back-to-back aces early in the second set against Sude and Laboureur. Then she and Walsh Jennings won three straight points on her serve, and the match ended shortly after.
Just before it did, with Ross ready to step into her routine, a fan made a parting request.
“Unleash the dragon!” he yelled in an abnormally quiet moment.
The crowd laughed, and then gasped one last time.