Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross beat Australia in straight sets and won their quarterfinal match early Monday morning on Copacabana Beach in Rio.
![(Photo: Getty Images)](https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GettyImages-589531802-e1471258550422.jpg)
(Photo: Getty Images)
It was Jennings’s 38th birthday.
![(Photo: Getty Images)](https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GettyImages-589531828-e1471258556774.jpg)
(Photo: Getty Images)
If she wins, Jennings will become the oldest beach volleyball gold medalist ever. (RELATED: People Can’t Stop Talking About Kerri Walsh Jennings)
After the Olympics, Jennings said she has “so many” open doors.
![(Photo: Getty Images)](https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GettyImages-589531804-e1471258562883.jpg)
(Photo: Getty Images)
“I want to build up my presence in our sport,” she said during an interview. “My husband and I want to have a leadership academy. Volleyball will kind of be the foundation of it, but we want to talk about character and team-building and what it takes to be great in life.”
![(Photo: Getty Images)](https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GettyImages-589531466-e1471258576399.jpg)
(Photo: Getty Images)
![(Photo: Getty Images)](https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GettyImages-589531796-e1471258568770.jpg)
(Photo: Getty Images)
She was criticized earlier this week because she said she was “born to have babies and play volleyball.”
“Before I had more kids, I was like, this feels trivial,” she said at the time.
“I’d been playing for so long, and I was like I need balance. All my eggs are in this one basket and it’s very self-centered and self-focused. They gave me that perspective and balance I thought I was missing. It took my game and my desire and my passion for life to the next level.”
![(Photo: Reuters)](https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-08-07T045222Z_1_LYNXNPEC7606U_RTROPTP_4_OLYMPICS-RIO-BVOLLEYBALL-W-e1471258761985.jpg)
(Photo: Reuters)
“I am hugely indebted to my children.”