Information and photo courtesy of volleyball.org.au
The sunshine returned and brought the heat to Super Sunday at Coolangatta for the final day of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event, with Australian’s taking home the bronze in both women’s and men’s competitions.
Australian’s Georgia Johnson and Lizzie Alchin fell just short of progressing through to the gold medal match, but dominated their bronze medal match up against Japanese duo Yabumi and Kikuchi 2:0 (21-15, 21-17).
“It was a game where we had to stay very patient,” Georgia said.
“We know Japan can play, and they are so strong on defense, so we knew we had to go into that game swinging high and hard and play our big, strong game.
“They got a few impressive digs on us, but we just tried to stay patient and not let us let it rattle us too much.”
Battling the crazy winds and rain in Saturday’s quarter final, to then playing under the blazing Coolangatta sun today, the pair were able to put together an impressive brand of volleyball on the final day of VolleySlam.
“I think it was a lot better today, and we were able to play our game from the start which was fun.” Lizzie said.
“We know we have to play to the conditions regardless, but definitely happy that today we got to play in a bit more normal conditions and play our better volleyball.”
“Yeah, it’s been an awesome final day of VolleySlam,” Georgia said.
“We saw some of the school kids in the crowd giving us a cheer, which is always just exciting to have that home court advantage really feel like an advantage.
“We’ve got our families here supporting us, and we’re so lucky to have them in our corners, and a home event is special.
“We head off overseas tomorrow to compete in the Philippines, so I’m glad we finished with a bronze in this event, and we’re hoping to maybe do one or two better next week.”
The women’s gold medal final showcased sisters from the United States Alaina and Morgan Chacon who defeated England’s Daisy Mumby and Kirsty Star 2:0.
“This is definitely the hottest day we’ve had to deal with so far, and we’ve dealt with a lot of adversity, but today was great and we loved the result,” Alaina said.
“It was honestly so fun, we didn’t have nearly as many fans as we did last weekend but the atmosphere here is amazing and it’s been really fun,” Morgan said.
“It felt great, we had a tough draw the whole way through so we’re just proud of our work and we’re pumped,” Alaina said.
In the men’s bronze medal final, it was an all Australian line up with young pair Jed Walker and Finley Bennett claiming the win over veteran duo Garang Anyang and Justin Schumann 2:1.
The third place finish is the first podium at the Beach Pro Tour Futures level for both Jed and Finn.
“It was unreal,” Finley said.
“It was a bit of a slow start, but I think there was a point after the first set, while we were on the bench and kind of looked at each other and just kind of realized that this is it – there’s no more opportunities after that.”
“Today was a huge turnaround in the weather, but even when it was bucketing down, it is still my favourite place to play,” Jed said.
“I just love being out there with Fin, and it’s awesome having everyone around and playing in front of a home crowd, such as, yeah, it was pretty special at the end.
“Anyone who watched that game could tell that halfway through that I was on my last legs, I was really hurting, and I told this guy, and I’ve never seen anyone turn it on like that.
“So that was pretty special, and I could get used to playing alongside him.”
As still a new pair on the sand, it was a dominant effort to come down from a set down, after also falling short to them in the pool play of the main draw.
“It’s just awesome to get the win together, we played ABVT today and that was our first competition as a pairing before this,” Finley said.
“It’s just an unreal experience, and I think it was great revenge to get the win over Schumann and Anyang after falling short to them in our second game of the draw, so it was great to get it back.”
In the final match of the VolleySlam tournament, New Zealand’s Ben O’Dea and Jack McManaway came away victorious after a strong win against Germany’s Momme Lorenz and Tilo Rietschel 2:0.
“It was awesome, and it’s been a crazy tournament and we’ve battled super hard,” Ben said.
“This is Jack and I’s first tournament together, we only trained together twice before this so it’s definitely been a dream run, and I think we played so well today.”
“I love playing here at Coolangatta, my partner is from here so it’s like a second home beach for me,” Jack said.
“My mum and dad flew across as well to support, which is so special and it’s my motivation and it’s what keeps me going.
“The team back home did so much work to give me the opportunity to play with one of the best players New Zealand has ever seen, so really stoked to get out there and we’re really happy we could go out there and get the job done.”
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures I Coolangatta QLD
26 – 30 March
WOMEN
Gold Medal Match
[8] Chacon/Chacon (USA) d. [13] Star/Mumby (ENG) 2:0 (21-6, 21-16)
Bronze Medal Match
[1] Alchin/Johnson (AUS) d. [14] Yabumi/Kikuchi (JPN) 2:0 (21-15, 21-17)
MEN
Gold Medal Match
[4] O’Dea/McManaway (NZL) d. [7] Lorenz/Rietschel (GER) 2:0 (21-13, 21-15)
Bronze Medal Match
[14] Bennett/Walker (AUS) d. [11] Anyang/Schumann (AUS) 2:1 (15-21, 24-22, 18-16)
Click here for the full draw and results.
QUICK LINKS
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
Mikasa Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/mikasasports_official
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation
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