Tauranga volleyball pair go one step closer to Olympic qualification

Tauranga's Sam O'Dea (white cap) and Mike Watson take on Australia in the Beach Volleyball Continental Cup finals at Mount Maunganui Beach. Photo / Andrew Warner

New Zealand's build-up to the Beach Volleyball Continental Cup was less than ideal - the Tauranga pair only had one training session together after Sam's brother Ben O'Dea had to pull out of the tournament due to injury.

The pair have played together previously and wasted no time finding their groove as they stunned Commonwealth Gold medallists Australia 2-0 in the final at Mount Maunganui Beach on Thursday, taking them one step closer to the Tokyo Olympics.

Watson said they faced stiff competition which made the win all the more pleasing.

"It was a great win, we were definitely the underdogs - those two Australian teams are really solid and have had some good results recently. The home crowd and the home beach got us through at the end of the day which was awesome.

"The crowd was good and vocal, they got behind us and the weather was good as well. A lot of times we're playing other New Zealand teams at home so for us to have that Australian rivalry really got the crowd going for us which was pretty awesome."

He said patience was the key to victory.

"We got off to a good start and then they kind of pulled it back and ended up winning the first set. We didn't stress, we stayed relaxed and made the necessary adjustments and went forward from there.

"We came together last minute for this event so it was a bit of a rush but because we had played together before it wasn't so bad and we quickly got back into our system."

O'Dea said he and Watson were up against it on Thursday.

"It was always going to be a really tough day, those Aussie teams are really good competition, they're fulltime athletes, their job is playing volleyball whereas in New Zealand we do as best we can but we all have jobs that we do on the side.

"It does feel pretty good to defend home soil. Things happen, I usually play with my brother but he's injured, that's sport I guess. It was good to be able to adapt and pull together a couple of wins.

"I think we adapted really well, that's always pretty key. We had a game plan but we hadn't really seen those teams play much before. In short, what we did was adapt, especially with blocking, there were a couple of things we were able to change in the second half of the first set and going into the second set which was what got us the win I'd say - being able to adapt on the fly."

It was always going to be a really tough day, those Aussie teams are really good competition, they're fulltime athletes, their job is playing volleyball whereas in New Zealand we do as best we can but we all have jobs that we do on the side.

The victory secures them an automatic spot in the final round of the Olympic Qualifiers. However, that event is hosted in China and whether it will go ahead is still up in the air, although it is looking unlikely with more than 3000 coronavirus deaths in the country.

Also up in the air is when Ben O'Dea might return from injury but Watson said all he and Sam can do is continue training and prepare as much as possible for whichever scenario eventuates.

"[To play at the Olympics] would be a lifelong dream come true, I've been playing for a long time and that has always been a goal, to play at the Olympics. This is just a small step on that path but it's definitely a positive one."

The women's team of Shaunna Polley and Julia Tilley finished second at the Continental Cup tournament. They also earned themselves a spot into the next round of qualification, that is also hosted in China.