April Ross and Jennifer Kessy are off to a good start at Huntington Beach
It’s difficult to imagine that April Ross and Jennifer Kessy would be flying under the radar at the AVP Nivea Tour Huntington Beach Open, but there sure hasn’t been much chatter about the second-seeded women’s team.
Most of the talk is about Misty May-Treanor and her new partnership with Nicole Branagh, or Elaine Youngs and Rachel Scott reuniting after a bitter breakup in 2006.
But based on recent play, Ross and Kessy — both former USC players — should be on the minds of all the other teams. They barely broke a sweat in winning their opening two matches Friday at Huntington Beach by lopsided scores of 21-11, 21-11 and 21-7, 21-11.
That dominant day came on the heels of a three-week run on the international tour that brought them two victories and a third-place finish. But with only a fifth and a third on the AVP so far this season, Ross isn’t convinced they are the team to beat.
“I’m not sure if people are that worried about us,” Ross said. “But that’s OK. Maybe we can sneak up on some people.”
Not likely. Ross and Kessy, who won four times on the AVP last season, have had a slow rise to prominence after teaming in 2007. They won once on the international tour in their first season and twice at the end of 2008 before a breakout 2009 in which they won seven times worldwide and were the only American women’s team to win on the international tour.
Credit the three-year partnership, which in beach volleyball terms is an eternity.
“That’s huge when you can be in a partnership that lasts that long,” Ross said. “You don’t have to start over. You come back each season and you try to add things to your game instead of trying to figure out how to play together. “
Some of the top women’s teams are doing just that. Two-time Olympic gold medalists May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh missed last season, Walsh after giving birth and May-Treanor after sustaining a torn Achilles’ tendon during her appearance on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Walsh is out again this season after giving birth for the second time, but May-Treanor is back and needed a partner. She teamed up with Branagh and they are the top-seeded team this week.
Branagh’s former partner, Youngs, reunited with Scott, a partnership that produced five victories in 2005 and 2006.
Ross acknowledged that she and Kessy were a little caught up in trying to decipher the new teams earlier this season, but she hopes that an attitude adjustment will lead to victory lane this week.
“I think at the beginning of the season we were preoccupied with it,” Ross said. “We were wondering ‘How are Misty and Nicole going to be? What about Rachel and EY?’ I think we’ve gotten over that and are focusing on our side.”