Sunshine Coast athletes Georgia Johnson and Caitlin Bettenay are relishing their summer on the Australian beach volleyball scene, adding the Queensland Open title to their honours.
The 22-year-olds are making their mark at events around the country, after spending four years playing in the United States college competition.
They’ve won several events on the Queensland circuit, including the feature Open at Coolangatta, and featured prominently on the national tour.
They finished atop a 47-team field on Sunday, beating a combination from Manly in the final 21-15, 22-20.
“We had a really good weekend,” Johnson said.
“It was great to take out the win.”
They got through eight matches in two days to seal victory.
Johnson said a commitment to training, including a stint at the Australian Institute of Sport, and a focus on discipline was helping them take big strides in the sport.
“We’ve been training really hard.
“We’ve been really working during the past few weeks so it’s great to see the hard work pay off and show with the results.
“We’ve been playing really clean and disciplined volleyball.
“We’re both really happy with how we’ve played.”
Johnson said they focused on their skills and weren’t perturbed by the opposition.
“It’s very interesting in the Queensland tour, because you play against a range of people who have different skill sets and different styles of play so it can be difficult, and you can get caught up in what the other teams are doing.
“But we have done a really good job of being clinical and doing what we need to do on our side of the net.”
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Unseeded when they started on the state and national tours in November, they’re now regarded as serious threats on both circuits.
The duo, who also juggle university studies, will play in the final round of the national tour at Coolangatta this weekend and are looking forward to the final round of the state tour at Mooloolaba on April 2.
While they aren’t in line for the Tokyo Games this year, they do have their eyes on Paris 2024.
The Queensland Open was initially expected to be held at Mooloolaba in January, but a COVID-enforced Brisbane lockdown forced its postponement, and it was ultimately relocated to the Gold Coast.
The event coincided with the Beach Volleyball Schools Cup there.
“There were about 50 courts set up and hundreds of people playing, so it was a really cool weekend,” Johnson said.
