By Jon Ackerman

Since collecting a silver medal at the 2012 London Games, April Ross has become America's finest female beach volleyball player. And that's saying something considering her partner is three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings.

But the 33-year-old Ross is four years younger than her partner, whose age is contributing to injuries. That means Ross is the more-feared foe on this 2016 Olympic gold medal-contending duo.

Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor defeated Ross and Jen Kessy in the 2012 Olympic title match, after which a number of factors led to Ross and Walsh Jennings teaming up in late 2013. By the end of 2014, the new duo ranked No. 3 in the world. A Walsh Jennings shoulder injury hindered much of 2015, but a healthy Ross and Walsh Jennings in 2016 will give the U.S. its best shot at another Olympic gold. 

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That would mark the crowning moment in an outstanding volleyball career for Ross. She grew up in Costa Mesa, Calif., was the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 1999, became a four-time All-American at the University of Southern California, led USC to national titles in 2002 and 2003, opted for the beach in 2006, won the world championships in 2009, took the Olympic silver medal in 2012, and has been named the USA Volleyball Women's Beach Player of the Year five times, the most for a female athlete.

She's even married to a volleyball player, fellow beach pro Brad Keenan. But the sport's importance comes after Ross' faith and family, to which she often pays tribute on the court. When she taps her chest twice and points to the sky, one tap is for her mother, who passed away in 2001 due to breast cancer, and the other tap is for God.

Both of them will be looking down on Ross this summer as she aims to add the only thing missing from her career: Olympic gold.