USC alum (2005, bachelor’s degree in international relations) 

Costa Mesa, CA (Newport Harbor HS) 

6-1 

June 20, 1982 

 

 

USC CAREER

• Played indoor volleyball at USC (there was no beach team yet) 
   

• She led USC to the 2002 and 2003 NCAA team titles 
   

• She won the 2003 Honda Award as the top collegiate women’s volleyball player 
   

• She made All-American first team in 2002 and 2003 
   

• She was the 2003 Pac-10 Player of the Year and 2000 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year 
   

• She was a four-time All-Pac-10 first teamer (2000-03) 
   

• She led USC in kills all four of her seasons, as well as digs in 2001 and aces in 2003 (with a school record 59) 
   

• She was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018 

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USA CAREER 

• She won the Olympic silver medal in 2012 (with fellow Trojan Jennifer Kessy) and the bronze in 2016 (with Kerri Walsh Jennings) 
   

• Since starting to play pro beach volleyball in 2006, she has won 71 tournaments (26 FIVB, 44 AVP, 1 NORCECA), placed second or third another 74 times, had 235 Top 10 finishes and won more than $2 million in 273 tournaments 
   

• She has partnered primarily with Kessy (2007-13), Walsh Jennings (2013-16), Lauren Fendrick (2017) and now Alix Klineman (2018-) 
   

• In 2021, Ross and Klineman won the FIVB Doha event and had 3 other Top 5 finishes 
   

• She was the USAV Women’s Beach Player of the Year eight times (2009-11-13-14-15-16-17-19) and part of the Beach Team of the Year three times (with Kessy in 2009 and with Walsh Jennings in 2012 and 2016) 
   

• She won the 2009 World Championship (with Kessy) and got silvers in 2017 (with Fendrick) and 2019 (with Klineman) 
   

• She was the 2007 FIVB Rookie of the Year (the first USA woman) after being so honored in 2006 by the AVP 

 

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PERSONAL

• During the COVID-19 pandemic when she couldn’t train with Klineman, she angled two pieces of plywood against a palm tree in her backyard, strung a net in front of the boards and played volleyball by herself by standing on the other side of the net while hitting a ball against the boards (her Instagram videos of these workouts went viral) 
   

• When she competes, she says she is inspired and motivated by the determination of her late mother, Margie, who died in 2001 after a 10-year battle with breast cancer;  she now joins with companies to raise awareness of metastatic breast cancer 
   

• She was the 1999 Gatorade National Player of the Year where at Newport Harbor High, where she also was on the basketball and track teams 
   

• She played pro indoor volleyball in Puerto Rico (2004-06) 
   

• She enjoys yoga, spin classes, meditation, mindfulness, sewing, woodworking, paddleboarding, snowboarding and golf 
   

• She says all the travel involved with pro beach volleyball allows her to fulfill her goal as a youngster:  seeing the world