The American beach volleyball duo of April Ross and Alix Klineman are rolling into their semifinal.
Ross and Klineman beat Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch of Germany on Tuesday morning in two close sets, 21-19, 21-19, in 44 minutes. In the semifinals, they will face the Swiss team of Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Heidrich, which won a closely contested match with Brazil, 21-19, 18-21, 15-12.
Ross has won a medal in the last two Olympics and, with Klineman, is in good position to do so again if they win at least one of their next two matches. Their semifinal is scheduled for Thursday. Of course, winning the semifinal would lead to an appearance in the gold medal match — a much-preferred option to chasing the bronze as one of the semifinal losers.
Klineman, 31, switched to beach volleyball in 2017 after mostly playing indoor volleyball, and teamed with Ross, 39. Ross won silver in 2012 with Jennifer Kessy and bronze in 2016 with Kerri Walsh Jennings.
