On the sand courts at the Tokyo Olympics, the sound of Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar’s hand slapping the ball during a serve echoes through the empty stadium.

With the American team needing just one point to win the women’s beach volleyball gold medal match, Artacho del Solar launches the ball into the net, giving victory to the Americans.

April Ross will never forget what happened next.

Roars of celebration erupt from the six-foot, one-inch tall Ross as she and her beach partner Alix Klineman defeat Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy. The rays of victory gleam down on Ross and her signature braided dirty blonde ponytail.

Accomplishing what many other Olympic athletes have done before them since 1896, the U.S. duo of Ross and Klineman cemented themselves in Olympic history as gold medalists.

Adding to her medal set of silver and bronze, Ross, the recently-hired El Camino College women’s beach volleyball coach, secures a full medal Olympic set.

Clinching the gold medal meant studying the Australian team to establish a game plan heading into the match. That determination and hard work paid off.

“It was pure elation and it was a dream come true,” Ross said. “I knew it was going to mean a lot for my career to cap it off with a gold medal.”

Marking the end of an illustrious 18-year-playing career, Ross, 42, who retired in early November, took over for longtime coach LeValley Pattison, who retired at the end of the spring 2024 season.

The three-time Olympic medalist said the realization of retirement became a regular feeling, which began at the AVP Huntington Beach Open in May.

Pairing up with Klineman, who announced her retirement in an Instagram post on Nov. 4, Ross played her last professional competition at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson on Nov. 10.

“I really wanted to finish the season and play in the AVP League for my last year,” she said. “We finished on a high note and I was pretty excited to retire at that point.”

Bringing experience as a world class beach volleyball player to El Camino’s beach program is rare, according to athletic director Jeffrey Miera.

“It’s not often that you get an individual with the experience, knowledge, the expertise that April [Ross] possesses,” Miera said.

Ross said taking the time to know her players on a personal level is an element she would like to incorporate into her coaching style.

“Having an open-door policy and trying to convey that they [players] can talk to me about whatever is going on, any issues they’re having, and I’ll try to help problem-solve with them,” Ross said.

Klineman highlighted Ross’ strengths that include the ability to adapt, which she says is crucial in her role as a coach.

“She’s a very free-thinker,” Klineman said. “For her to be able to pair up with three different people and go to the Olympics, get medals with all three of them, just shows that she can really adapt to her environment and deal with different types of personalities.”

In addition to winning an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo with Klineman, Ross secured a silver medal with Jen Kessy in London against compatriots Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings in 2012.

Four years later, Ross paired up with Walsh-Jennings to take home a bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

Long before being tapped to coach at El Camino, she established herself as one of the most decorated beach volleyball players in Olympic history, adding to her resume, which includes 46 victories in the AVP league, medals at the World Championships, as well as medals in FIVB competitions.

Hailing from Costa Mesa, Ross played a variety of sports, including soccer and gymnastics.

In high school, Ross played volleyball as a middle blocker at Newport Harbor for coach Dan Glenn, who also coached May-Treanor, five years her senior.

A turning point in the early stages of her volleyball career, Glenn called her up to the varsity squad as a freshman. Feeling intimidated playing with experienced upperclassmen, she saw the bright side of playing with girls older than her.

“What I didn’t realize at the time was it was a blessing to be put on a team where all the players were so much better than I was, because I was able to learn from them,” Ross said.

Through hard work, she attended the University of Southern California where she transitioned to playing outside hitter, helping the team capture back-to-back NCAA titles in indoor volleyball in 2002 and 2003, under the direction of coach Mick Haley.

Her senior year in 2003, USC’s indoor women’s volleyball team went undefeated, claiming their second national title over the University of Florida.

“It was really exciting, winning our first one,” the former Trojan said.

After playing for the Trojans, Ross ventured out to play professionally indoors in Puerto Rico for the Ponce Leonas.

While Ross said she has not experienced many low points during her volleyball career, she experienced feeling homesick while playing outside of the United States.

“I was away from my friends and family, injured and just lonely,” Ross said. “That was not fun.”

During her indoor career, she developed a few injuries, including tendonitis in her knees, which eventually called for surgery to clear out cartilage.

However, this changed after making the transition from playing indoors to the sand in 2006, allowing her to be injury-free.

Pairing up with Kessy on the sand allowed her to sustain the sport professionally, a time she describes was another turning point in her career.

“The fact that Jen [Kessy] and I were winning [games] and was able to sustain financially, that was what allowed me to do it as a profession,” Ross said.

That profession led her to El Camino, where she will succeed Pattison, who became the first coach for the college’s beach program in 2016, when the program was officially recognized by the California Community College Athletic Association.

For eight seasons under Pattison, the program saw top-five finishes in California that included a tie for a third place finish in 2018.

Similar to the three-time Olympic medalist and former Trojan, Pattison switched from indoor volleyball to the sand after coaching the women’s indoor volleyball team for 26 seasons.

Longevity and a desire for flexibility played a role in her decision to retire.

“I just felt like it’s time to give somebody else a shot,” Pattison said. “I’d like to be able to travel a bit and do some different things.”

Pattison plans on spending more time with her family in retirement, closing a long and storied coaching career.

Meanwhile, Ross and her husband Josh Riley, a firefighter with the Burbank Fire Department, welcomed their son Ross Riley in October 2023.

She would like to balance her time coaching and spending time with her family as well.

“I feel like being here at El Camino close to home, I can coach, pursue this career, mentor the girls here and then spend a lot of time with my family – those two things were really important,” Ross said.

As she prepares for her role coaching the women’s beach team, having a son has given the retired beach volleyball star a new purpose.

“Teaching someone how to do all the things you need to do in life, helping them develop as a human and molding them, trying to set them up for a good life,” Ross said. “That holds a very significant purpose.”

This story was originally published on El Camino College Union on November 18, 2024.