Mollymook Beach played host to a double-header of major upsets this weekend at the championships of the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour (ABVT).
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Over the weekends events the athletes experienced a variety of conditions, with scorching sun to heavy rain, for the championships on Sunday though it was hot and windy as the last standing teams took to the sand.
Tour leaders, Olympian Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett were pegged to win it all again after coming away with the previous win in Cobram, but an upset was on the table .
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Third seeds, Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher came into the match as underdogs but managed to pull out a two set victory (21-15, 24-22). The duo remained calm against the oppositions length, athleticism and experience and adjusted to the gusty conditions at Mollymook.
The finals match-up was a replay of the one at Cobram, where McHugh and Burnett managed to snatch a win in two sets.
It showed great mental fortitude from Nicolaidis and Carracher to come to Mollymook and take the victory.
"It's awesome, we've been grinding the tour for a few years now and we had an opportunity in Cobram but couldn't get the job done," Carracher said.
"To come up against a talented side that has won Asian Champs and has a Olympic Games player, and to get the win is an awesome achievement, we're stoked and couldn't be happier," he said.
The dynamic duo have been together for several years and after a number of set backs due to COVID-19 the duo said they just feel super fortunate to be prepared this year and get some great results under their belt.
They had to face supremely windy conditions but felt that it worked in their favour as they ran smaller as a team than their opposition.
"We run pretty small and quick so the wind can't grab the ball a lot," Carracher said.
The duo look forward to a bright future after being crowned champions for the first time.
"Today was so much fun, we play our best when we're having fun and for most of our games this weekend we just had smiles on our face the whole time, that's the energy we want to take into the next few events," he said.
While one upset is rare enough to see, two in the same day was truly a spectacle.
The Women's Elite Division gold medal match was yet another repeat of a Cobram Final but again saw the underdog pull out a decisive victory.
The duo of second seeds Caitlin Bettenay and Alisha Stevens won the match defeating the powerhouse team of top seeds Phoebe Bell and Stefanie Fejas in three sets.
"It felt so amazing to get the win, we worked really hard, we're dealing with injuries and have been training individually, but we stuck together through these tough conditions and made it work," Stevens said.
Bettenay stated that the level of trust they have as teammates really helped them secure the win.
"We had a strong game plan coming in and when it mattered we executed every time. We played quite intuitively and together, and you could really tell with the windy conditions," she said.
The next leg of the 2022 Australian Beach Volleyball Tour, which doubles as the 2022 Australian Championships, will be held at Manly on March 4-6.
For full results of the Mollymook Leg - click here