THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS – Stanford alumna Alix Klineman '11 and her partner, April Ross, completed their run of 10 consecutive victories in their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together to claim DELA Beach Open gold on Sunday.
The American pair defeated Brazil's Carolina Salgado and Maria Antonelli 2-0 (21-12, 21-15) at the indoor arena at Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague, Netherlands. They took an early advantage and held it throughout the competition, combining Klineman's dominance at the net with Ross' agility behind her.
Talk about setting a high bar! The new U.S. beach team of April Ross and Alix Klineman wins the DELA Beach Open by beating Brazil in the final. Get the details | https://t.co/Toz55bh3Xc pic.twitter.com/AhVB4ZSSje
— USA Volleyball (@usavolleyball) January 7, 2018
"I'm still in shock, but we tried to play this game as we would play any other game," Klineman said. "We prepared the same way and we tried to play the same way and it was enough in the end."
The duo went on a run of nine consecutive wins to reach the gold medal match, a run that took them through two country quota matches, two qualifying round matches and into the main draw, before they met Carolina and Maria Antonelli in the Dela Beach Open final.
Current program Assistant Coach, Lauren Fendrick, was Ross' partner for her last World Tour medal, where the duo won silver at the Austria 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.