Beach Volleyball: Third partner a charm for Ross
The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Championships at the Huntington Beach Pier offered a little bit of everything Sunday but in the end, a first was recorded in both the women’s and men’s divisions.
The team of Costa Mesa resident April Ross and Lauren Fendrick, playing together for the first time, won the women’s title.
The team of Tri Bourne and John Hyden, men’s runner-up at the pier last year, claimed the coveted winner’s cup this time around.
Ross and Fendrick, seeded No. 11, defeated the top-seeded team of Nicole Branagh and Jenny Kropp in Sunday’s final, 21-19, 23-21, to split the $25,000 winners’ purse.
With her victory, Ross, a 2000 graduate of Newport Harbor High, became the first female player to win titles in the same season with three different partners. She also won AVP titles this year with Kerri Walsh Jennings and Jennifer Fopma.
Ross, the AVP Tour women’s MVP in 2013 and 2014, won her third Huntington Beach title in four final appearances at the event. She took the women’s crown last year with Walsh Jennings and in 2010 with Jennifer Kessy. She and Kessy also finished runner-up in 2009.
Ross has won 20 of the last 25 AVP tournaments she has entered.
Ross, who earned a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, picked up Fendrick this week after Walsh Jennings, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, was sidelined for the season by shoulder surgery. Ross said it’s always special winning in Huntington Beach.
“I never tire of it,” she said. “I have family and friends here rooting me on, and I was blown away from the crowd here in Huntington who has shown me a lot of love and support. I felt it out there.”
In a tight first set that had seven tie scores, Ross and Fendrick opened up a three-point lead on three occasions, the final time at 11-8. Branagh and Kropp battled back to tie the score at 14-14 on a block by Branagh, and the score was tied one final time at 18-18 on a kill by Fendrick.
Ross and Fendrick took the lead for good when Branagh was called for a net violation. They got the 21-19 win when Branagh served into the net.
The second set featured 12 tie scores by the time the score stood at 12-12. An ace by Branagh started a 3-0 run that put her and Kropp up, 15-12. Ross and Fendrick caught their opponents at 16-16 when a shot by Ross went off Kropp. Five more tie scores ensued before Fendrick placed a ball in open space and a shot that went long by Kropp at championship point resulted in a 23-21 victory for Ross and Fendrick to halt the 63-minute match.
Ross and Fendrick advanced to the final by defeating the No. 12-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Brittany Hochevar, 21-15, 21-15, in a semifinal earlier Sunday.
May Treanor, a former Newport Harbor star who won three Olympic gold medals with Walsh Jennings, competed in her second AVP tournament of the season. She had retired after the London Olympics, but at age 38, earned third-place finishes in each of her two tournaments this season. May-Treanor also finished third with Hochevar in Seattle.
May-Treanor and Hochevar split $9.300.
Ross and Fendrick (Carlsbad High, Class of 1999) have known each other since high school. They played against one another during club play, were teammates on a U.S. national indoor team, and were rivals again when Ross played at USC and Fendrick at UCLA.
“I have played against her (Fendrick) since high school and she has always been a player who has pushed my game, to elevate it,” Ross said. “It’s an honor to play with her.”
Fendrick felt the same.
“I really can’t say how just how special this is to play and win this with April,” she said. “I’ve always loved her style of play and I think we just clicked, even though we haven’t been together long.
“This feels great and it was a real grind this week. [Kropp and Branagh] did a great job and played great all week.”
The AVP Championships is the final event of the 2015 AVP tour.
Twitter: @MikeSciacca