Ross Continues to Dominate on the AVP Hot Winter Nights Tour

She and her boyfriend, fellow player Brad Keenan, spent their first Valentine's Day together, and it was certainly a memorable one. After treacherous road conditions forced a long detour in the Cascade Mountains, Ross and Keenan finally arrived in Western Washington and sat down to a quick Valentine's Day lunch before getting ready for the Everett event.

"We went to Denny's for lunch, so that's pretty romantic," said Keenan with a grin.

Ross and Keenan hopped on the bus right after the Everett event for the drive to Portland, Ore., the final Northwest destination of the Hot Winter Nights Tour.

"I'm actually looking forward to [the drive]," Ross said. "It's going to be a nice, relaxing Valentine's night."

The victory in Everett was the third overall for Ross, who selected her regular summer partner, Jen Boss, for the finals.

During round robin play, Ross' first match was with Annett Davis, which they won 15-12 over Boss and Dianne DeNecochea. Boss and Ross stumbled in the next match, losing 16-14, to Davis and DeNecochea, but Ross bounced back and teamed up with DeNecochea in the final match for a crushing 15-5 win over Boss and Davis.

The final between Boss-Ross and Davis-DeNecochea was close, with several ties throughout the match, but Davis and DeNecochea could never seem to find enough momentum to gain the lead. Boss and Ross finally pulled away in the last few points, winning 15-13.

Meanwhile, Keenan played a critical role in helping Casey Jennings to a first-place finish for the second night in a row. The duo teamed up in Spokane for a 15-11 win over Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger, and won again in Everett, 17-15.

Early on it looked as if Metzger would be the toughest player to beat as he went undefeated in round-robin play. But pushing Lambert and Metzger to 18-16 in the third game of the opening round proved Jennings wasn't going down without a fight. Jennings and Keenan led for most of the final before Lambert and Metzger tied it up at 14-14, but in the end Jennings sealed the victory with a kill down the line. It was his third Hot Winter Nights win overall.

The key to beating Lambert and Metzger, who are regular partners during the summer on the Hot Summer Nights Tour?

"It's February!" joked Jennings before giving much of the credit to his partner. "Keenan's a big blocker. I'd be uncomfortable losing with him, because he's that good."

The players will have a day off to rest (or in Jennings' case, to snowboard Mt. Hood) before the final Northwest stop of the Hot Winter Nights Tour at the Rose Garden on Saturday night in Portland. The tour wraps up on Feb. 23 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Source: http://web.avp.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080215&contentid=33686