Gold Medalists Klineman, Ross To Return To Action in MB

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA - Alix Klineman and April Ross will play for the first time since winning the Olympic gold medal in women's beach volleyball in the AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open today.

Klineman, of Manhattan Beach, and Ross, of Costa Mesa, are the tournament's top seed. They are set to play at 11 a.m. against the winner of the 8:10 a.m. match between the 16th-seeded team of Geena Urango of Los Alamitos and Falyn Fonoimoana and the 17th-seeded duo of Jessica Gaffney and Tory Paranagua.

Klineman and Ross won the Manhattan Beach Open in 2018 and lost in the2019 final to Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan. The tournament was not played in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The field also includes the other U.S. team from the Tokyo Olympics,Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil, who are seeded second. They are set to play at 2p.m. Claes, from Fullerton, and Sponcil reached the round of 16 at the Olympics.

Chase Budinger and Casey Patterson are the top seeds in the men's bracket. Four-time Olympian Jake Gibb and partner Taylor Crabb are seeded second. Crabb withdrew from the Olympics after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The tournament runs through Sunday. General admission tickets arefree. The courtside boxes and Club AVP are sold out for both Saturday andSunday.

All matches will be streamed live on Peacock Premium.

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