A Sunshine Coast team is set to have a real dig at the Queensland Volleyball Tour Championships on their home beach, after displaying great form during the summer.
Georgia Johnson and Caitlin Bettenay (pictured below) will head into the Friday (April 2) event buoyed by victories at the Victorian Open in Melbourne in mid-March and the New South Wales Open last weekend.
Since returning from the United States, where they competed in the top national college competition, they’ve also won the Queensland Open and two state circuit events at Surfers Paradise and claimed a silver medal at the Cobram-Barooga Classic, a national tour event.
“It’s exciting for us to see the hard work we’re putting in show in the results,” Johnson said, before adding they were playing smarter.
“We’ve really increased our volleyball IQ.”
“Being on the Australian tour has seen an improvement in our strategy.
“We’ve always worked really hard on our skills, which are obviously a massive part in winning matches, but a lot of it comes down to who has the better strategy and who can execute best.
“I think that’s been our biggest improvement during the past three months.”
Tactics helped the 22-year-olds at the Victorian Open.
“Sometimes the Melbourne beach community have a different style of playing, so we knew we had to stick to our guns and play calmly,” Johnson said.
“It’s really exciting to win in a different state and give the south Melbourne beach a bit of a taste of the Sunshine Coast.”
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They then won the New South Wales Open at Manly Beach on March 27-28, when they were also awarded the Mikasa Cup for highest placed women’s team across all state open events.
Now, they’re poised for the Queensland tour championships on the Sunshine Coast on Good Friday.
They’re seeded first for the tournament.
“We started the season seeded 23rd for the event at Cobram (whey they finished second) so it’s pretty exciting to be at the upper end of the seedings now,” Johnson said.
The Queensland tour final will have several divisions, including Premier, Challenger, All Comers, U19 (born 2003 or later), U17 (born 2005 or later), U15 (born 2007 or later).
Friday’s volleyball action will start at 8am and the final game is scheduled for 5pm. Main courts between Mooloolaba Surf Club and Loo With A View, more courts near the surf club.
Queensland Beach Volleyball Tour Championships
Event: Mooloolaba Beach
Date: Friday, April 2, 8am until after 5pm.
Divisions: Premier, Challenger, All Comers, U19 (born 2003 or later), U17 (born 2005 or later), U15 (born 2007 or later).
Draw: Pool Play
Each player must have competed in a minimum of 3 QBVT events during the season (Australian Beach Volleyball Tour’s Glenelg & Manly count).
A team will compete in the division that they have played the majority of the season.
Open, U19, and U17 divisions will compete as pairs, while U15 teams will compete as 2-, 3- or 4-a-side.
All divisions are capped at 12 teams.
