Beach Volleyball: Ross nets player of the year award

Costa Mesa resident April Ross has been named 2014 Female Beach Player of the Year by USA Volleyball.

Ross, a former Newport Harbor High standout, played her first full season with Kerri Walsh Jennings in 2014, dominating the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals domestic tour and also shining on the Federation Internationale de Volleyball circuit.

Ross and Walsh Jennings swept all seven AVP events, posting a 36-0 record that included winning 70 of 73 sets. Ross led AVP players in aces (94), was second with a .509 hitting percentage and ranked third in digs (372).

Internationally, Ross and Walsh Jennings won four tournaments.

Ross, a silver medalist at the 2012 Olympics in London, was also USA Volleyball’s Player of the Year on the beach in 2013, 2011 and 2009.

Misty May-Treanor won the award in 2012, 2008 and 2007, making it seven of the last eight years in which a Newport Harbor product has been so honored.

— From staff reports