Alix Klineman

Alexandra Rose "Alix" Klineman (born December 30, 1989) is an American beach volleyball player, 2020 Summer Olympics gold medalist, and former indoor volleyball player.

In high school she was the 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year. She was a four-time All-American in volleyball at Stanford University, and the 2010 Volleyball Magazine national player of the year. She won a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2011 Pan American Games.

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, to Mike and Kathie Klineman, raised in Manhattan Beach, California, and is Jewish. She has an older brother, Max, and a sister, Maddy. She is in height. 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 won a bronze medal with the US in volleyball at the 2011 Pan American Games.

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 supplement.

Beach volleyball career

In 2017, Klineman left indoor volleyball to focus on beach volleyball full-time, and was named the Association of Volleyball Professionals (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 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 in Hamburg, Germany. 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 2020 Summer Olympics, 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 – File:Med 2.png Silver medal, with AGIL Volley. 2015–16 Brazilian Women's Volleyball Superliga – File:Med 2.png Silver medal, with Dentil Praia Clube. 2017 South American Club Championship – File:Med 2.png Silver medal, with Dentil Praia Clube.

Individual

2015 Inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame 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