Challenger Division Excitement Continues on Day 2 of the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour 

Day 2 of the 2024/25 Australian Beach Volleyball Tour at the Lyneham Beach Courts in Canberra continued to showcase incredible matches, with the Challenger Division athletes hitting the sand for the first time this weekend. 

Competing in the Challenger Division is Canberra local and 2024 Captain of the Canberra Heat, Holly Uren, alongside her new partner Lavinia Tyrrel (NSW), who is excited to be back on the ABVT sand after wrapping up the indoor season last year.

“After finishing the indoor season, it has definitely been great to jump back into it,” Uren said. 

“It’s been so much fun, and the conditions have been great.

“It’s been amazing to see so many people who have come down to Canberra for a beach volleyball event.”

After competing in Canberra two years ago with her sister, Holly is back and is enjoying having the home ground advantage and her community behind her. 

“It’s nice to have the home crowd advantage,” she said. 

“You already know the conditions and all those sorts of things, so it’s a great venue.

“When you play in Canberra, since there is no beach and there’s no water, it’s sort of a different environment. 

“So you get lots of different things going on with the wind, but I think the Canberra community is quite small, so it’s been great having so many people here, and we’re a tight knit community as well.”

With the second stop of the national tour welcoming so many of Australia’s elite beach volleyballers, Holly shared that it is amazing to be able to play alongside these athletes.

“It is amazing to see so many Olympians and high level athletes here in Canberra,” she said. 

“Even just as we finished our last game, you have Taliqua Clancy and Jana Milutinovic coming on right after you, it’s amazing. 

“And it is also really amazing to see some really high level volleyball, and it’s really good for all the juniors as well who are able to come and watch these amazing players in action.”

“But for Lavinia and I we’d obviously love to win this weekend, but even just making it through to the quarters and semis would be such a fun opportunity for us.”

Men’s top seeds Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher, alongside the number one seeded women’s team, Taliqua Clancy and Jana Milutinovic, have progressed to the semi finals tomorrow morning. 

Click here to see all draws and results from Day 2 ahead of Super Sunday tomorrow. 

Finals day action commences at Lyneham Beach Courts at 8:00am AEDT, with medal matches streamed live on the AusVolley Youtube page.