Huntington Beach, California, USA, September 14, 2015 – April Ross and Lauren Fendrick showed that they will be a pair to fear at the SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals after winning their first tournament together at the AVP Championships at Huntington Beach on Sunday.
The World Tour Finals runs from September 29-October 4 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Ross and Fendrick are one of two wild cards teams, along with Emily Day and Jennifer Kessy. In Huntington Beach they defeated Nicole Branagh and Jenny Kropp 2-0 (21-19, 23-21) in the final.
Ross and Fendrick are playing together after Ross’ regular partner and triple Olympic champion Kerri Walsh took time off from the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour to recover from a shoulder injury.
It is the first time that a World Tour Finals has taken place and there is a prize of $100,000 for the winning pairs in both female and male competitions. Ten teams will compete in each gender, the top eight teams per gender from the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Rankings plus two wildcards.