Credit: volleyball.org.au
Geelong Beach Volleyfest is gearing up for five days of international action as the Beach Pro Tour arrives at Rippleside Beach from Wednesday morning. Teams from Australia will do battle with those from around the world as they look to earn vital world rankings points.
World No.9 ranked team Zac Schubert and Tom Hodges lead the Aussie charge in the men’s draw alongside Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher who are fresh off a fourth place finish on the Beach Pro Tour in Thailand on Sunday.
Following their breakthrough performance in Chiang Mai, Carracher said the pair were looking forward to putting in a strong performance in front of a parochial home crowd.
“We’re really excited to get back on home soil,” he said. “Mark and I started our journey in the Coolangatta Futures last year.
“We can’t wait to play at home again.”
Georgia Johnson and Jasmine Fleming enter the women’s draw as the top-ranked Australian team, and are riding high after five straight wins delivered them the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour title over the weekend.
Kayla Mears and Tara Phillips finished fourth in the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour event last weekend and are Australia’s second highest-ranked team in the women’s draw.
Geelong-raised Stef Weiler is reuniting with Bec Ingram this week, the pair having claimed bronze at the Australian Championships in March.
Four Australian teams are already in both the men’s and women’s main draws with another 11 combinations trying to play their way in through qualifying.
One of those women’s teams is Phoebe Bell and Caitlin Bettenay who finished third in the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour last weekend, their only two losses coming against the gold and silver medallists.
Bell, an Australian Champion in 2022, said her combination with Bettenay has renewed her passion for the game ahead of this week’s event.
“I’m just loving playing volleyball again,” she said. “I’m really enjoying playing with Caitlin and being back home playing in Australia in front of my friends and family again.
The Beach Pro Tour begins Wednesday 9am AEDT at Rippleside Beach and entry to all courts is FREE throughout Geelong Beach Volleyfest 2023.
The tournament will be streamed live via SBS On Demand from Saturday 2pm AEDT with the Quarter-Finals, while the Semi-Finals and Medal Matches will be streamed from Sunday 8:30am AEDT.
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