beach volleyball

April Ross, Alix Klineman Reach Semifinals with Win Over German Pair

Ross and Klineman won a tight battle against the Germans in straight sets

April Ross and Alix Klineman are two wins away from their first Olympic gold medal.

The United States’ top women’s beach volleyball pair won a tight battle against Germany’s Maggie Kozuch and reigning Olympic gold medalist Laura Ludwig in the quarterfinals on Monday night.

The Americans defeated the Germans in straight sets, 21-19, 21-19, to advance to the semifinals.

They will face Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET for a spot in the gold medal match.

Ross and Klineman are a perfect 5-0 in Tokyo, having dropped just one set total.

Both sets between the U.S. and Germany were back-and-forth affairs that featured several lead changes, but the Americans proved to be the better side in the late stages.

With the first set locked up at 19-19, Ludwig committed a service error to give the Americans match point. Ross then won the next point to put the set away.

The Germans suffered defeat in a similar fashion in the second set, as this time it was Kozuch who committed a service error to put the Americans at match point, 20-18. After Ludwig brought the Germans back within one point, Ross came up clutch once again.

Team USA's semifinal opponents, Heidrich and Verge-Depre, went 2-1 in the preliminary round and won their quarterfinal match against Brazil's Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Rebecca Cavalcanti Barbossa Silva in three sets.

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