Mount Maunganui volleyball pairing Mike Watson and Sam O'Dea are back on home turf today after securing their best result of the international volleyball season in Jinjiang, China.

The boys made the final four at the prestigious Asian Beach Volleyball Champs, narrowly missing out on a podium finish in a tie-breaker match against Australia on Sunday.

Sam O'Dea and Mike Watson in action.

After topping their pool, defeating numerous high performing teams, Mike and Sam lost their semi-final match 19-21, 21-11, 12-15.

They were defeated 19-21, 25-27 by Qatar in playoffs for third and fourth.

Back in Auckland this evening, Mike says they are happy with the result, but their focus is now on continuing to do better.

'We played really well for the whole tournament actually, and we wanted to win the event so we're a little bit disappointed we didn't do that, considering we had our chances to win the semi-final, we let them slip a little bit.

'But we're definitely happy with fourth; we got a lot of ranking points and a little prize money as well.”

This is Mike and Sam's first year playing together in international competition.

Mike says they're especially happy with the way they're playing together following the Asian champs, and knows they're headed in the right direction.

'We didn't have the easiest draw but we managed to beat some teams that have beaten us the past.

I think we're happy, but looking to improve even more.”

The pair will be back in Mount Maunganui by the end of the week, where Mike says they have some big decisions to make looking forward.

'We have to pick and choose what events we're going to play, and see what's going to be most worthwhile for us.

'We can't play all the events [due to funding issues] but we definitely should be able to play some more this year and keep the momentum going.”