Trojans In the Olympics: All USA Beach Volleyball Final, Featuring Kessy & Ross

Trojan alums April Ross and Jennifer Kessy put on an inspiring performance Tuesday when they advanced to the finals in women’s beach volleyball after besting the 2011 World Champion Brazilian team.

Coming into this match, the Brazlians had beat Kessy and Ross nine straight times. Apparently, the tenth time is the charm.

Ross and Kessy found themselves down a set after dropping it 15-21 to the top-seeded Brazilians, Larissa and Juliana, but rallied and won the next two 21-19 and 15-12. The pouring rain only added to the drama of the moment, as these women fought a good fight in the bitter cold, wet conditions. The Brazilians yielded nothing to the Kessy and Ross, making the duo fight for every point, dig, and ace. Kessy and Ross actually trailed early in the second set, but showed much resilience and determination as they climbed their way back and found their stride.

These women of Troy will take on fellow Americans and beach volleyball legends, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings in the gold medal match on Wednesday night. This is a huge moment from the pair of Trojan alums, as they narrowly missed out on the Beijing Games in 2008. Regardless of the outcome, Kessy and Ross will exit their first ever stint at the Olympics with some kind of hardware to their names.

Other Trojans in the Olympics:Aaron Brown, a soon to be junior at USC running for Canada had the 12th-fasted time in the 200m (20.55) on Tuesday, and will move on to the semis on Wednesday. The 200m favorite, Allyson Felix, ran in the semis for this event on Tuesday and will run in the finals—as expected—Wednesday as well. She qualified with a time of 22.31. 800m runner Duane Solomon secured himself a spot in the finals when he finished his race with a time of 1:44.93.Tumua Anae, Kami Craig and Lauren Wenger, contributed in women’s water polo victory over Australia, 11-9 in overtime. They earned the right to play in the gold medal match. In the other semifinal game Tuesday, the Spanish vs. Hungary match also featured two Trojans: Flora Bolonyai(Hungary) and Anni Espar (Spain). In a nail-biter, the Spanish narrowly defeated the Hungarians 10-9 and will take on Team USA in the finals.

USC’s medal count still stands at: 4 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze for a total of 10 medals thus far in the London 2012 Olympic Games.