Media Release                                                                                                                9 March 2022

Beach Volleyball Big Names Converge on Canberra

Some of the biggest stars of Beach Volleyball in Australia will converge on Canberra this weekend for the ACT Open being played at the Lyneham Beach Sports Facility.  The 2-day pairs beach volleyball tournament is the highest level of beach volleyball competition played in the ACT and is associated with the greater Australian Beach Volleyball Tour circuit which attracts players of the highest calibre including Olympians and current world beach volleyball tour players.

Bir names include Victorian Beach Volleyball cult icon Martin Kaufer, along with 2021 NSW Beach MVP Sam Halley who will join local ACT stars and Australian Volleyball Academy (AVA) athletes in what will be an epic men’s competition.

Many Canberran’s will remember both Martin and Sam from their successful indoor careers with the Canberra Heat.  Both are back in town with their eye on the ACT Open crown, Sam Halley and playing partner Mateusz Zieba are defiantly the team to beat, both have had success on the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour, Mateusz who finished 4th at the recent Mollymook event, and Sam with a Bronze at Cobram in the first round. While earlier this season Martin defeated Tokyo Olympian Chris McHugh, so we know he is currently in outstanding form.

In the Women’s competition, all teams will be pressed for the title with number 1 seeds Tarryn Angermeier and Lisa Moegle from VIC and NSW respectively presenting a tough challenge for the likes of ABVT Bronze medallist Sarah Burton. While the ever-competitive Australian Volleyball Academy teams along with Canberra state representative and Canberra Beach Program athletes will ensure none of the games are easy.

This year’s ACT Open is also the culmination of the ACT Beach Series, which consisted of 9 Beach Volleyball events across the 2021-2022 Summer season. On top of medals and prize money for the ACT Open winners will also be the top-ranked season MVP trophies.

Competitions start at 9 am on Saturday with finals starting at 11 am Sunday, entry for spectators is free and games will also be live-streamed through Volleyball ACT Facebook pages.