Beach volleyball duo Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann left last year's Commonwealth Games dejected. But they've bounced back to become Asian champs, with their sights set on the Paris Olympics, and a special appearance on home sand next week.
Before the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, a sports psychologist asked beach volleyballers Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann what the worst case scenario would be for them at the Games.
Their answer: not performing. And after losing their bronze medal match, 2-1, the Beach Ferns duo faced one of their lowest, darkest moments - having to quickly come to terms with walking away from Birmingham without a medal.
But out of that came a new mindset, and the pair overcame their disappointment to be the first Kiwi women to win gold at the Asian beach volleyball championships last September.
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Even over Zoom from different rooms, while on the NZ Beach Tour, the pair trade off answers with ease; their partnership just as smooth as it is on the sand.
“I think we complement each other really well - we always say we’re kind of opposites but also super similar,” Zeimann explains, describing partner Polley as the steadier one.
“Shaunna’s experience is still a big positive for me to be playing with. I definitely would look to her, more so in stressful situations.”
They laugh about how travelling the world with each other is like a platonic relationship - they both have partners, but spend a lot of time away from them when competing.
“Alice has been awesome for me because she’s a great communicator, I’m a bit more reserved,” Polley describes.
“But once we start chatting, we’re really good at dealing with any issues we have; not that we’ve had too many in our career. We’re just very open and communicative which is a huge bonus.
“I think we’re both good at knowing what each other needs. For me, I need space a bit more sometimes and for Alice, she needs more social interaction at times. So it’s just knowing when to give and take and keep each other happy, that kind of dynamic.”
Polley competed in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, but last year was Zeimann’s first Games experience.
“The adversity we faced losing our bronze medal match is probably the biggest lesson from it. It was pretty dark, pretty low for us after that,” says Zeimann.
With barely any rest, the duo had to dust the sand off and head to Thailand for the Asian champs.
Going into the tournament, Zeimann and Polley were ranked 44th in the world, and came up against the Australian pair of Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in the final. The Aussies were ranked third in the world, and had won silver at the 2020 Olympics and the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The Kiwis won the match 2-0 (21-18, 26-24), collecting the first women’s gold medal for New Zealand since the competition started in 2000.
“It was an absolute dream come true for me,” says Polley, who’s competed in the Asian champs for over 10 years.
“Every year we slowly get better and better, but never did I really expect to win it. That was just such a huge achievement for us and I think a real confidence booster.
“It just gave a lot of validity to what we’ve been doing and what we’re trying to achieve. It really showed all the hard work we had been putting in is paying off and had paid off.”
After the historic win, the pair returned to New Zealand, and had a well-deserved break.
“We had all of December off actually, which was my first December off in 10 or 11 years,” Polley says, heading back to training in January, spending almost every day in the rain.
Zeimann says they now feel rested and ready to go.
“We’ve been training for a couple of months now and hoping to peak by next month when we head to Brazil,” she says. “I think we’re in a good space with our team where we’re putting in the work now and things are paying off and will pay off.”
Zeimann and Polley have a busy 10 days ahead at Mount Maunganui - first playing in the final event of the NZ Beach Tour this weekend, followed by the the futures level of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour there next week.
The futures level sits under the Elite16 and the challenge levels, described as a chance to ‘allow cities to develop the sport in their countries and build up the capabilities of promising youth teams’.
Polley says she’s always wanted to play an international at home, and thought the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games was the closest she’d get.
“But to have the futures event here is an awesome opportunity for Volleyball New Zealand. And for us, for all of the young athletes that are coming through to get a real chance to see what an international competition looks like, the calibre of athletes that are there. I think it’s just a great opportunity for everyone," she says.
The road to Olympic qualification is long, based on a team’s top 12 results over a year-plus period, so Zeimann and Polley will be off to Europe and across the world for most of this year.
“We have to be tactical about which ones we play and where to make it cost-effective,” Zeimann explains. “It’s quite hard being from New Zealand, cause it is a long way to go. So we will need to be overseas for a long time.”
But the pair are well supported by their coach, Jason Lockhead, and former top men's player Craig Seuseu.
Zeimann is in her last year of a law degree at the University of Auckland - their high performance sport department helping to balance her study and copious amounts of reading with competing.
Polley does contracted work for Three Peaks Manuka Honey, stepping back from full-time work with them now, and also manages to find nannying and coaching jobs to support herself.
They both agree that making sure beach volleyball isn’t their whole identity while on tour is very important, especially knowing they may hit setbacks on the road.
And with a huge year ahead of them, looking after themselves away from the sand may be key to their success.
