NZ tour titles won at Mount Maunganui

Beach Ferns Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann. Photo: Supplied.

Beach Ferns Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann are NZ Tour and NZ Open Champions, after taking the final GJ Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour presented by Tip Top women's Premier Final with a 2-1 win over Oliva MacDonald and Alaina Chacon at Mount Maunganui on the weekend.

Brad Fuller and Alani Nicklin won the men's NZ Open Final 2-0 over Tom Heijs and Tom Hartles, while Jack McManaway and Tom Reid took the NZ Tour title after winning in Nelson and Mission Bay, despite an injury enforced forfeit in the third and fourth playoff.

Beach Ferns Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann and Olivia MacDonald and Alaina Chacon (USA) showed once again why they've been impossible to separate through this series with another final that went down the wire. The Beach Ferns opened with controlled accuracy, taking a 5-1 lead early, despite all servers taking some time to find their range.

There were some titanic battles between Zeimann and MacDonald at the net, with Polley making some big digs and coolly finishing points to take a 17-12 lead - despite MacDonald and Chacon scrambling back hard, the Ferns were able to close the set out 21-18.

Beach Ferns Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann. Photo: Supplied.

MacDonald and Chacon found their rhythm in the second set, steadily building a lead with MacDonald blocking Polley to go ahead 9-5, then making a soft touch to go to 11-6.

A big Zeimann spike threatened a momentum shift, but MacDonald and Chacon defended their lead well, with Chacon spiking powerfully late on to make it 14-9, consolidating their lead and eventually taking the set 21-14.

Zeimann and Polley came out firing in the third, racing to 5-1, then 7-3 when Polley found open sand with a well placed shot, before tipping a shot over MacDonald to get to 8-3.

Zeimann made a pair of spikes to make it 10-5, but MacDonald and Chacon weren't going down without a fight, with Chacon pinning two points back in a row to tie it up at 11-11.

Polley spiked to make it 12-11, with Zeimann following with a delicate serve to at 13-11, before closing it out with a scrambling rally to finish and take the win 2-1 (21-18, 14-21, 15-11).

In the men's final, Brad Fuller and Alani Nicklin dominated the first set, after a tight, cagey opening against Tom Heijs and Tom Hartles. Roared on by friends and family, Fuller and Niklin took a 16-11 lead on the back of some powerful play and monumental spikes, before closing it out 21-18.

Brad Fuller and Alani Nicklin. Photo: Supplied.

The second set started in equally tight fashion, with Nicklin making a tough block to take a 7-5 lead, before Heijs answered back immediately with a massive drive.

Hartles and Heijs edged into the lead at 11-12 with a big Heijs block, before Fuller spiked to get back to level at 12-12. Fuller spiked again to take the lead at 16-14 and again to extend to 17-14.

After dropping one match point at 20-16, Nicklin finished it with a drive down the line to take the second set and the win 21-17.

The Beach Pro Tour Futures event is happening March 16-19 at Mount Maunganui main beach, with a Powhiri taking place on Wednesday March 15.

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