Alexandra Rose "Alix" Klineman (born December 30, 1989) is an American

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

player,

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

gold medalist, and former indoor

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. In high school she was the 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year. She was a four-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in volleyball at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, and the 2010 ''Volleyball Magazine'' national player of the year. She won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

with Team USA at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

. Switching to beach volleyball, she was named part of the 2018 Association of Volleyball Professionals Team of the Year (along with April Ross), and individually honored with the 2018 and 2019 Best Blocker awards.

Early life

Klineman was born in

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

, to Mike and Kathie Klineman, raised in

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Coastal California, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north ...

, and is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. She has an older brother, Max, and a sister, Maddy."Meet Breakout Beach Volleyball Player Alix Klineman: From Starting By Chance To Winning Golds,"
Team USA, August 20, 2019. She is in height.

High school

Klineman graduated from

Mira Costa High School Mira Costa High School (MCHS, "Costa") is a four-year public high school located in Manhattan Beach, California that first opened 1950. It is the only high school in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. The school's athletic teams are k ...

in 2007. She was named the 2005 and 2006 California Gatorade State Player of the Year for Volleyball, and the 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year. She was also the 2004 and 2006 California State Championship most valuable player, PrepVolleyball.com 2004 Sophomore Player of the Year and 2006 Senior Player of the Year, and a three-time PrepVolleyball.com High School All-American. She led Mira Costa to three consecutive California State Championships, and three consecutive Southern Section CIF Championships. In indoor volleyball, Klineman is an outside hitter.

College

She played indoor college women's

for the Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball team in 2007–2010. She was the 2010 ''Volleyball Magazine'' Player of the Year as a college senior, a multi American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American, the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year, and an All-Conference selection all four years. Klineman was also the AVCA National Freshman of the Year, leading the Cardinal to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Finals, and she made the NCAA All-Tournament Team. She finished her college career second at Stanford and fifth all-time in Pac-10 history with 2,008 kills. In 2010, she ranked second in the US with 5.55 kills per set and 6.25 points per set.

Team USA

She was on the USA Junior National Women's Volleyball Team and a member of the United States women's national volleyball team. She helped the U.S. Girls' Youth National Team win a gold medal at the 2004

North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sports of volleyball in Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean. NORCECA is the continent ...

(NORCECA) Girls' Youth Continental Championship, and a gold medal at the 2006 NORCECA Women's Junior Continental Championship. Klineman was a training member of the

United States women's national volleyball team The United States women's national volleyball team participates in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball. Their last head coach was three-time Olympic gold medalist and retired dominant be ...

. She won a

with the US in volleyball at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Professional indoor volleyball career

She also played volleyball in Italy from 2011 to 2015 for Volley Pesaro, Gruppo Sportivo Oratorio Villa Cortese, and AGIL Volley Novara, and with Praia Clube in Brazil for two years. Klineman served a 13-month ban from May 2013 to June 2014 for an anti-doping rule violation for use of anabolic androgenic steroids relating to unintentional ingestion of her mother's

DHEA Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), also known as androstenolone, is an endogenous steroid hormone precursor. It is one of the most abundant circulating steroids in humans. DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands, the gonads, and the brain. It functio ...

supplement.

Beach volleyball career

2019-07-06 BeachVolleyball Weltmeisterschaft Hamburg 2019 StP 0520 LR by Stepro

In 2017, Klineman left indoor volleyball to focus on beach volleyball full-time, and was named the

Association of Volleyball Professionals Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

(AVP) Rookie of the Year. At the end of 2017, Klineman and April Ross became beach volleyball partners. In November 2017, Klineman received a "no fault or negligence" ruling after testing positive for prohibited substances as they were contained within contaminated prescription medication. Klineman and Ross won the FIVB Dela Beach Open in January 2018, which was the first tournament they played together. During the 2018 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Klineman and Ross won four tournament events: the Austin Open, the

Manhattan Beach Open The Manhattan Beach Open is a beach volleyball tournament held annually during the summer in Manhattan Beach, California. Held on the south side of the Manhattan Beach Pier, the Open is the only professional volleyball tournament in which amateu ...

, the Championships (in Chicago), and the Hawaii Invitational. In mid-October 2018, Klineman and Ross won their second FIVB tournament event, earning the gold medal over Brazil at the Yangzhou Open. Klineman was named part of the AVP Team of the Year (along with April Ross), and individually honored with the Best Blocker and Most Improved Player awards at the AVP Award Banquet that November. In 2019, Klineman's success with Ross continued as they won the Huntington Beach and New York City Open AVP tour events, and won the FIVB Itapema Open mid-May. They also won the silver medal at the

2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships The 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships was held in Hamburg, Germany from 28 June to 7 July 2019.

Hamburg, Germany Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Klineman was again named Best Blocker. In July 2020, the two won the AVP Monster Hydro Cup and the Wilson Cup, and in August they won the AVP Champions Cup. On August 6, 2021, Klineman and Ross captured the gold medal at the

, after winning in straight sets versus Australia. In the entire tournament, they went undefeated in match play, only losing one set throughout seven matches. Two weeks later, the pair won the AVP Manhattan Beach Open, their second time winning this tournament together.

Awards

Clubs

* 2014–15 Italian Women's Volleyball League – Silver medal, with AGIL Volley. * 2015–16 Brazilian Women's Volleyball Superliga – Silver medal, with Dentil Praia Clube. * 2017 South American Club Championship – Silver medal, with Dentil Praia Clube.

Individual

* 2015 Inducted into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jews, American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distingui ...

* '' 2017 South American Club Championship "Best Outside Hitter"'' * 2018 AVP Team of the Year (with April Ross) * 2018 AVP Most Improved Player * 2018 AVP Best Blocker * 2019 AVP Best Blocker

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klineman, Alix 1989 births Living people American women's volleyball players American women's beach volleyball players Outside hitters Jewish volleyball players Jewish American sportspeople Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball players American expatriate volleyball players in Italy American expatriate volleyball players in Brazil Serie A1 (women's volleyball) players Sportspeople from Manhattan Beach, California Sportspeople from Torrance, California Doping cases in volleyball Volleyball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in volleyball Beach volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in beach volleyball Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American sportswomen Mira Costa High School alumni