Auckland, New Zealand, January 18, 2016 - The North Shore turned on some spectacular weather for the last leg of the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Open Tour.
Hosted by the Mairangi Bay Beach Volleyball Centre on Auckland’s North Shore, players turned up expecting some tight battles, after the three previous events. And they were not disappointed. First pool play of the day saw Paora Morunga and Thomas Hartles have an epic battle with locals Charlie Stewart and Liam Munday, both teams pushed hard, with Morunga and Harltes narrowly coming away with the 22-24, 21-18, 21-19 win.
It set the tone of the tournament with many tight three setters right throughout both days.
The final showdown was a repeat of the Mount event with O’Dea / Watson taking on Shiratori and Ageba from Japan. The New Zealand team showed their class after resting from Karapiro winning in two straight sets.
O’dea said after the match “After losing to Japan in Mt Maunganui we were eager for some revenge and finish the first leg of the tour on top. Our decision to rest the Karapiro event was the right decision for our team as we were mentally and physically fresh for the Mairangi Open. We had Craig Seuseu working with us as our coach and came up with some solid strategies going into the final. We were able to execute our game plan and closed the game out in straight sets. We now practice and leave to Australia for the Australian Championships which we are defending champions."
The women’s side of the draw was just fairly straight forward until the quarters when things became tense.
The experience of Micah Lindsay-Brown combined with the blocking skills of Jessie Muggeridge came back from one set down against Mount Maunganui duo of Alice Bain and Kiana Tawa to be the first into the semi-finals, winning 16-21, 24-22, 15-9.
The women’s final was also a repeat which saw New Zealand’s top female team of Julia Tilley and Shaunna Polley face the International team from Japan, Hasegawa and Kusano. However, the result wasn’t on repeat with the New Zealand team determined to take the win of the final event. In a fitting tribute to an exceptional game, Tilley aced on match point, winning 21-19, 21-11.
Tilley said, "Playing the Japanese for the fourth time in the final we knew we really had to bring our A game and put them under pressure. We came out with a good strategy and stayed focused feeding off each other's energy. It was great to take the win over such an experienced team, especially in front of friends and family. There was a great atmosphere at the venue and was all round an awesome event! We are looking forward to stepping up our game even more as we head over to Australia next weekend and into the New Zealand pro tour events”.
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