After winning her third gold medal in beach volleyball at the London Olympics last summer, Kerri Walsh Jennings gave birth to her third child. The plan was to return to competition in mid-August. But an event came along she couldn't miss.
Jennings will make her U.S. debut this season at the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball on July 22-28 in Long Beach, Calif. It will be the first FIVB sanctioned event in the United States in 10 years and provide a significant spotlight for the sport, televised on NBC's network of channels.
Jennings hopes to be competing with new partner, April Ross, there as well. Jennings' longtime teammate, Misty May-Treanor, retired after winning gold in London.
"She's a stud," Jennings said about Ross. " I respect her so much. She's been my main competitor for so many years. She's driven me more than any other person so it's going to be so fun to partner up with her. It's kind of a lot like Misty. I had so much respect, but she was on the other side of the net. Then we got together and magic happened. I'm hoping and planning that happens with April."
This year Ross will end her partnership with Jennifer Kessy, a team that won silver in London, before teaming up with Jennings in preparation for the 2016 Olympics.
After so many years of competing alongside each other, Jennings without May-Treanor seems a bit like a beach without sand.
"It's been Misty and I for so many years," Jennings told USA TODAY Sports. "My first day on the beach, she wasn't there and I kind of shed a tear. But that's a beautiful thing. We had something so special that's never going to change. But this new partnership is such an exciting thing because I'm going to grow because of it, I'm going to be better because of it."
The World Series Cup finals will showcase the top American men's and women's teams competing against the best teams from around the world. "It's sort of like Ryder Cup and the sport needs a event like that to get the masses interested," event creator and promoter Leonard Armato said. "The masses are interested in the Olympics, but we don't have anything else like that to bring the country together to root for our athletes against the rest of the world."
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