SJC’s Jen Kessy to Go for the Gold

San Juan Capistrano native Jennifer Kessy has realized her Olympic dream, making it to the Olympic gold medal round for beach volleyball.

To take that final step, however, she and her partner April Ross will have to beat two of their own.

It’s a USA vs. USA final match for gold in women’s beach volleyball at the London Olympics. To get there, Kessy and Ross – dubbed by USA Volleyball as “Kross,” like some romantic TV relationship – had to come from behind after a first-set loss to a team from Brazil. In the pouring rain, the scores went 15-21, 21-19, 15-12, according to NBC. 

In the second set, Kessy and Ross were down as by much as 4 points before rallying from behind. Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca are reigning world champions and have beat Kross nine straight times. They’ll now play for bronze.

In victory, Kessy and Ross fell to the sand, hugging and screaming after they finally scored on their third match point in the third set.

Kessy is now guaranteed at least a silver, and to get the gold, she and Ross will have to defeat  Misty May-Treanor of Santa Monica and Kerri Walsh of San Jose, Calif.

The finals match is set for Wednesday, Aug. 8 at 9 p.m. local time, according to USA Volleyball.

The two U.S. teams have played each other 32 times in both domestic and international competition, with May-Treanor and Walsh leading the series 27-5.

“I gave Misty a hug before the game and said, ‘Congratulations,’” Kessy told USA Volleyball. “She said, ‘Good luck and I want to see you tomorrow.’”

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