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LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 7, 2021 - April
Ross and Alix Klineman had no intention of
making any changes to a system that was clearly
working for them, even less with the Tokyo
Olympics fast approaching. Ranked second in the
world, the Americans believed they were on track
to contend for a medal in the Japanese capital
next summer.
But things in life can change quickly. And so
they did.
Jennifer Kessy, who partnered with Ross to win
silver at the London 2012 Olympics, and who was
the team’s coach since 2018, decided it was time
to accomplish a long-standing goal. Married to
former French player Andy Ces, it was time for
her to move across country to settle with her
family in Maine.
“Jen played a big part in our development and
she really took Alix under her wing,” Ross said
in an interview with VolleyballMag. “As a right-sider
and a blocker, it was really easy for her to
relate to Alix in her struggles and help her
figure out how to be that dominant right-side
player. She coached us during our ups and downs
and was always there when things got super
frustrating. It was really good to have that
from her. She was really instrumental and we’re
sad she had to leave, but it is what it is and
we’re just moving forward.”
However, when one door closes, typically another
one opens and Ross and Klineman didn’t have to
look around for too long until they found a
perfect replacement for Kessy. In fact, the same
kind of family decision that took their coach
away was what placed Angie Akers on their path.
A former player who competed on the FIVB Beach
Volleyball World Tour from 2002 to 2012 and
represented the United States at the 2007
Pan-American Games, Akers was heading back home
after a prolific five-and-half-year stint
coaching the Dutch national teams, one that took
her to the Rio 2016 Olympics and to victory at
the 2018 European Championships.
“Jen and I had pretty similar situations as we
both had to change our plans because of our
families,” Akers said on the Sandcast Podcast.
“My contract with the Dutch Federation was up in
August 2020, when the Olympics were initially
planned to end, and I had promised my husband
that I wouldn’t renew it and that we’d move back
to the United States. I was heartbroken when the
Olympics were postponed, but I thought it
wouldn’t be fair to him if we stayed there for
another year. It was really hard to tell the
players that I wouldn’t stay and to not complete
a journey that you started with them wasn’t
easy.”
With Akers available and Ross and Klineman
looking for a new coach, the solution was clear
and obvious and their union offered the
Americans an opportunity to continue their
journey to Tokyo with a minimal level of
change.
In Akers, Ross and Klineman get a coach with a
similar profile to Kessy’s and someone they can
rely on to find the little areas of their games
where they can still improve.
“We love having a female coach, especially one
like her because she played a lot and it’s nice
to have someone with that experience assessing
our game and helping us develop it,” Ross said.
“We’re stoked to have gotten her. She’s very
invested in improving as a coach and has put in
a lot of work in the Netherlands, so she’s got a
lot of tools at her disposal.”
From Akers’ standpoint, it couldn’t get much
better than coaching a team who have won four of
the 18 World Tour events they have played at,
secured a silver medal at the 2019 FIVB Beach
Volleyball World Championships and completely
dominated the American AVP, finishing in the
top-three of all 15 tournaments they competed at
and winning ten.
The team and their new coach decided to
fast-track the early stages of their union and
headed to a training camp in Brazil in December
in which they not only got to practise with some
of the country’s top teams but also developed
chemistry and a working system that they hope
will guide them as a team.
“My whole perspective coming in was ‘this team
has a recipe that’s working, so I’m not about to
throw in different ingredients and spoil it’,”
Akers said. “It’s more about offering a
different perspective and thinking and talking
about whether we can do anything differently and
whether we want to. The trip to Brazil was
extremely important, it helped us get to know
each other better and we accomplished what we
wanted to. It also gave us new things to think
about and some new directions to look into.”
Ross and Klineman expect to be even stronger
with Akers at their side and in one sense, at
least, that progress is already manifest.
Previously known as the ‘A-Team’, it’s fair to
say that with Akers on board they are now the
‘Triple-A Team’.
“That was an added bonus,” Ross laughed about
the coincidence. “We certainly didn’t hire her
for that but afterward we were like ‘oh, Angie,
it’s perfect for the A-Team’.” |
