Credit: volleyball.org.au
The third stop on the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour, Mollymook, will play host to 10 days of beach volleyball action from Friday 23 February, with the national tour the first of three events set to take place on the stunning Shoalhaven coast.
The Australian Beach Volleyball Tour will be immediately followed by the Australian Junior Beach Volleyball Tour from 26 February, before the Beach Pro Tour Futures event takes place from 28 February to 3 March.
Proudly supported by the Shoalhaven City Council, both the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour and the Australian Junior Beach Volleyball Tour will be hotly contested, with numerous athletes playing across both events.
Newcomer to the Developing Volleyroos squad, Queenslander Jasmine Rayner is one such athlete, competing in a new pairing with Western Australian, Lizzie Alchin.
“Mollymook will be our second Australian Beach Volleyball Tour event, so Lizzie and I are quite excited to see what we can achieve,” said Rayner.
“The competition will be tough but that’s what we’ve been training for, so we’re pumped and excited to do our best over the course of those first two events.
“We’re pushing for those podium spots this weekend with the hope of qualifying for the Futures event too, so it will be a big few weeks of Volleyball for the two of us.”
Third-seeds Rayner and Alchin will likely come up against some experienced training partners at Mollymook.
“It’s been amazing to train alongside some of the big names, really get a look inside the high-performance environment and learn new things everyday,” said Rayner. “Both Lizzie and I are excited to challenge ourselves against the best, and this weekend will be no exception.
“We played Stefie [Fejes] and Jana [Milutinovic] in Cobram in the Round of 12, so we’re excited for another opportunity this weekend. We’re continuously learning more about our competitors and how they play, so we’re absolutely going to bring it and play the best game we can with that in mind.”
Another new pairing rearing to compete at Mollymook is Ben Hood (QLD) and D’Artagnan Potts (SA).
Having joined forces late last year, the team has experienced early success, with a gold medal at the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands and a silver medal at the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour in Geelong behind experienced campaigners Martin Kaufer (VIC) and Ky Landers (WA).
After placing fourth at the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour in Cobram, Hood and Potts will be aiming to regain their place on the podium this weekend.
“We started strong in Geelong, it was D’Artagnan’s first national tour podium as well so we were super stoked with our start,” said Hood.
“We were happy with our results in Cobram, but we’re really hoping to get on that podium again in Mollymook and get that gold medal around our necks.
“The field has been very competitive, and every opportunity to come up against the Developing Volleyroos and well-drilled senior boys is a learning experience for us, win or lose.
“We both have the skills, the drive and the ability to play that really high-powered game, we’re just looking to lock down that consistency, and if we can keep up the energy and the drive, we’re aiming for a great result in Mollymook.”
The third round of the 2023/24 Australian Beach Volleyball Tour will take place from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 February, followed by the second round of the Australian Junior Beach Volleyball Tour on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 February.
The Australian Beach Volleyball Tour medal matches on Sunday afternoon will be streamed live via SBS on Demand.
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