Ross shoulders load

LONG BEACH — Much has been made of the elements missing from their game, due to Kerri Walsh Jennings recent shoulder dislocation. But with April Ross shouldering more of the hitting responsibility in the World Series of Beach Volleyball, the heralded Ross-Walsh Jennings tandem has remained head and shoulders above their initial competition at Alamitos Bay.

Ross, a Costa Mesa resident and Newport Harbor High product, made sure of that Friday, as she blasted away at the net for 22 kills, including 13 in the second set, to help the No. 8-seeded Americans earn a 21-13, 21-16 victory over a the No. 23-seeded duo from Switzerland. The win, the fourth in as many matches at the Federation Internationale de Volleyball Grand Slam event, propelled the lone American women’s team into Saturday’s quarterfinals.

“Every match, April has just been escalating and asserting herself,” Walsh Jennings, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, said of her partner, with whom she won the Long Beach event last season. “The coolest thing is that nothing is forced. Everything [Ross] chooses to do is in rhythm. There’s like zero panic. I’m shooting her left and I’m shooting her right on my passing. She’s just like, ‘Oh, I’ll go deep or take her [opponent’s] face off. She’s such a solid volleyball player, but her composure is what’s really impressing me right now. She’s unflappable.”

Walsh Jennings said Ross’ excellence is not new. But the novelty of Walsh Jennings’ limitations in terms of hitting and serving overhand, have amplified the spotlight on Ross’ contribution.

“Her ridiculous play is absolutely not new,” Walsh Jennings said of her 6-foot-1 partner, who won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. “This is just a new situation. It’s so interesting. I have a lot going on in my head. I’m trying to tell myself to shut up up there. Literally, I have to think to myself, ‘Don’t swing [due to the shoulder].’ So [Ross] is the one who is balancing me out, which is so, so nice.”

Against Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre on Friday, Ross balanced converting traditional sets with hitting “on-two,” as Walsh-Jennings frequently passed on her service receiving to simulate a set. The strategy catches the defense — used to the initial pass from a serve being set, so the player who received the serve can hit — off guard. It also decreases hitting situations for Walsh Jennings, who is swinging left-handed and using a variety of finesse shots to protect her shoulder, for which a fifth surgery is imminent.

Walsh Jennings and Ross, who have swept the Nos. 20, 9, 25 and 24 seeds thus far, will meet No. 4-seeded Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavin from Canada in the quarterfinals.

Bansley and Pavin were defeated in the opening round of pool play by the No. 26-seeded American tandem of Jennifer Fopma and Brittany Hochevar, 21-16, 21-19, but have won three in a row since.

Fopma, a Costa Mesa resident who filled in for Walsh Jennings with Ross and won Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tournaments the previous two weekends, and Hochevar, were eliminated in the round of 16, falling, 21-16, 21-11, to the No. 2-seeded Brazilian duo of Larissa Franca Maestrini and Talita Da Rocha Antunes.

Fopma and Hochevar, playing together for the first time in years, finished tied for ninth. It’s their best finish in four FIVB events as a team. Their previous best was 17th place.

In the first elimination round, Fopma and Hochevar overcame a 12-9 deficit in the third set to defeat No. 13-seeded Americans Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat, 21-15, 19-21, 19-17, to advance.

Fopma and Hochevar pulled even at 12-12, then had three match points in the third set, before Fendrick and Sweat rallied to take a 17-16 advantage. But Hochevar hit the back line for a kill to knot it at 17-17, and a contested net call on Fendrick gave Fopma and Hochevar their fourth match point.

Hochevar, a former Long Beach State standout, then nailed an ace serve to close it out and shouted triumphantly to her home crowd.

Fopma and Sweat finished ninth at this event in 2013, when Hochevar and Fendrick teamed to finish fifth.

Ross said she is invigorated by the remaining challenge facing her and Walsh Jennings.

“I’m so pumped that we’re this far in our current condition, playing how we’re playing, and I don’t want to stop,” Ross said. “I’m ready for [Saturday, which may also include the semifinals, heading to Sunday’s bronze- and gold-medal matches. We’re learning stuff we would not have learned, had this [Walsh Jennings’ injury] not happened. We’re still figuring things out every match. I think we have some weapons and I’m really stoked about that.”