News Beach volleyball 07/05/2014 USA's Kerri Walsh and April Ross answer fan questions Lausanne, Switzerland, May 7, 2014 – The first FIVBBeach Volleyball World Tour event of the year kicked off with a bang in Fuzhou,China, with a thrilling win by three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings andpartner April Ross from USA against Brazil's Juliana Felisberta Silva and MariaAntonelli.Following their win, the pair sat down to answer questions collected from FIVB fans on Facebook andChinese social media sites Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo. Get to know the team:Q1:You're from Southern California which has a big beach volleyball culture, growingup in that environment, how has that influenced your decision to goprofessional?AprilRoss:I grew up in Southern California which has a big beach volleyball following andfanbase. I didn't like it growing up though, we used it as a cross trainingtool for indoor volleyball and I never looked forward to those days. It wasreally hard, and I felt that I was really bad at it. I got all sweaty, sandyand gross, so, I didn't like it growing up. So, I dont think that really playedinto my decision to go pro. It was after I tried it after I graduated college,I fell in love with the sport. I just love it and that's why I play it.Q2:You guys played in Fuzhou where the weather wasn't great. How challenging wasit for you and was weather a factor and did you have to do anything elsedifferently to prepare for playing in the rain?AprilRoss:I think you have to adjust for each different type of weather. It might be adifferent adjustment each time and it just depends on who you're playing andhow bad the rain is. For me, it's hard to jump serve in the rain. The ball getsheavier and so you have to be ready for it to fall faster and anticipate that alittle bit. But, it's basically the same game so, we just go out there and playvolleyball.Q3:How are you preparing for the Olympic Games in RioAprilRoss:We're preparing for the Olympics every day, trying to be the best that we can,in practice and coming out here and playing against the best in the world -tournament in and tournament out. Surrounding ourselves with knowledgeable,great people that can help us be the best that we can be. I think, one changefor me this year, is the people that I'm working with; partnering with Kerri,working with a great coach, a really good strength coach - that's all a big partof it too.Q4: Ofthe places that you've played in your career, are there any places that are yourfavourite and why?AprilRoss:I feel super lucky that we get to travel the world and play beach volleyball,it's a dream! At this point, I have to say Kerri and I really like China! We'vedone pretty well and hopefully that continues. We've played in some really coolplaces - we played right under the Eiffel Tower for a couple years in ParisFrance, we've played in Barcelona Spain. We have a tournament in Long BeachCalifornia, it's the second time in a row we'll have it this year. We had a 10year drought so it's nice to have it back in the United States. I can't reallythink of anywhere I don’t really enjoy playing -- I just love the game and Ilove to travel so it's all good!Q5:You and April are both very experienced players who just recently got togetheras a team. How long did it take to build your dynamic together and are thereany areas of improvement?KerriWalsh: Well, I think in a lot of ways we hit the groundrunning. We had chemistry from the beginning, we had a similar mindset from thebeginning, and we're both really hungry to improve and to win. So we had a lotof great things come together from the start. That being said, we have so muchroom to grow as a team and so much more dynamic to build upon. So it's really,really exciting, we know it's going to be a really long tough journey to Rioand the thing I'm so excited about is that we have so much enthusiasm andpassion for what we do. I don’t care how big the mountain is before us, we'regoing to climb it and we're going to achieve our dreams together and just loveit! Even the tough times.Q6:You have 3 Olympic Gold medals, one of which is from Beijing. Are you surprisedat the growth of beach volleyball as a sport in China?KerriWalsh: No, I'm not surprised. I saw firsthand in Beijingpeople's love and support for our sport, and it was beautiful. I loved playingevery single match in Beijing. It was sold out, the crowd was reallyenthusiastic. We played the Chinese team in the finals which was so intense andreally, really fun! They have amazing teams and great athletes and I love thatthey're so supported by their federations and by their country. It makes a lotof sense to me because it's such a fun dynamic sport. It's great for families,it's great for young people and old people. For older people, I think it's justa good fit.Q7: Inthe Fuzhou match, the announcer mentioned that you're a mother of three, whichgot a lot of "Oohs and Aahs" from the crowd, because as a sport,beach volleyball is physically and mentally demanding. Are you surprised bytheir reaction?KerriWalsh: Yes and no. It's my normal now, it still shocks me thatI have three little souls that I'm responsible for, so that part trips me out!I love that people can relate to me, or that they find inspiration or that theythink I'm crazy or whatever it is to be doing what I'm doing with three kids.For me, I'm truly living my dream. I've always wanted to be a working mommy - Ihave a beautiful family and an amazing husband. That just makes me feel reallyproud. Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News