Sand, sun and serious fun for Jeffers

IAIN McGREGOR/The Press

STRUTTING HER STUFF: American Audra Jeffers, who with Germany's Alexandra Raum finished second in Christchurch, is looking to go one better in Wellington.

Sam Worthington talks to American beach volleyballer Audra Jeffers, the fiancee of Tall Blacks star Kirk Penney, ahead of this weekend's Wellington Open.

Q) How did you meet Kirk?

A) I actually met him back in the States. He played four years of college basketball at the University of Wisconsin and I played volleyball for the same school.

He'd come back to train with some of his team-mates and that's where we met.

Q) How are you planning on juggling your careers?

A) That's been something that we've had lots of talks about. I just want to support him in his basketball career and find something for myself that will work. With me moving out to New Zealand it was really important for me to still have my own thing to do. Right now I'm personal training at Les Mills. And now I'm just trying the volleyball thing. I wasn't ready to give it up quite yet and it wasn't exactly the indoor season. So I thought, you know what, this is an opportunity to transition into beach volleyball and I'll just take life as it comes. It was an opportunity that was there and I'm really excited about it.

Q) You're both sportspeople, does it get pretty competitive?

A) Oh yeah, definitely, we love competing at anything. I've got the upper hand for sure, ask him about ping-pong.

Q) You've listed L&P as your favourite drink on your profile, you must be part-Kiwi?

A) Yeah, definitely. I hadn't had it until I got out here to New Zealand and I really like it, it's good stuff.

Q) What are the chances of you representing New Zealand one day?

A) I'd love to do that. We'll just see where things go. We just got engaged so the next step is just planning a wedding and going from there. Maybe one day.

Q) You and Alexandra Raum were runners-up in Christchurch, was that your first time playing together?

A) That was exciting, it was really fun. We met in the first week of October and she was here completing an internship and I had moved out with Kirk. We kind of just met each other on the beach and she was looking to compete in some of the local tournaments and I was looking to learn anything I could about beach volleyball, even if it was just getting people together and playing. She approached me and we started talking and we both needed partners and that's how it all came together. We just competed in some local tournaments around Auckland and Tauranga and did quite well and then found out we could play on the tour. So things have just fallen into place.

Q) Are there plans to take the pairing overseas?

A) That's something that I haven't thought about too much. I just came out here not knowing what volleyball opportunities really existed, not knowing how the transition from indoor to beach would be. But now that we're doing quite well I just want to keep playing, keep getting better and see where it goes.

Q) So what is your full volleyball background?

A) I've been playing indoor for about 10 years, competitively in the States for five years for the University of Wisconsin. But this is my first real try at beach volleyball. There were a few summers where we'd get together on our campus and they'd fill the parking lot with sand and we'd play pickup games. But it was nothing too serious. We played a few tournaments but this is the first time that I really kind of learned what I'm doing and the different strategies.

Q) Do you think beach volleyball is taken seriously as a sport or is it treated as fun?

A) I think that perception is in New Zealand a little bit. I think it will definitely change and hopefully the tour will continue to grow every year. In the States, beach volleyball has done tremendously well, especially on the West Coast. It's getting a lot of respect as a sport and the big thing is just finding sponsorship and the money needed to enter the tournaments. That's the toughest part for athletes, whether it's in the States or here in New Zealand. Just getting started is the toughest part.

Q) What are your and Alexandra's roles in your pairing?

A) She plays in the back court so she's more in charge of the defence. Whereas I play the front-court so I'm usually up at the net blocking. If for some reason the set falls far from the net then I have an opportunity to pull back and play defence with her. So that's been our balance.

Q) Have you heard about Wellington's infamous wind?

A) We had some really great experience in Christchurch. It was quite windy at Sumner Beach, definitely more wind than we'd experienced at our other tournaments but it is just something we have to adapt to.

AT A GLANCE

What: Beach Volleyball. The Wellington Open is the second leg of the New Zealand tour, which travels to four centres during January.
Where: Oriental Parade.
When: Today, 9am-6pm. Tomorrow, semifinals from 10am. Women's final 2pm, Men's final 3pm.
Cost: Free.

THE STORY SO FAR

The first tournament in Christchurch was an all-Kiwi affair. Former Silver Fern Anna Scarlett and her partner Susan Blundell triumphed in the women's section, while Brendon Heath and Edwin O'Dea won the men's. Scarlett and Blundell are also defending their women's title in Wellington but face international challengers Katharina Culav and Sarah Hoppe (Germany), Eliza Dean and Sarah Battaglene (Australia) and Alexandra Raum (Germany) and Audra Jeffers (USA). Raum and Jeffers, who is the fiance of Tall Black Kirk Penney, were runners-up in Christchurch. Other Kiwi women's teams expected to feature are Micah Lindsay-Brown and Hannah Croad, who were semifinalists in Christchurch, and Melissa Ruru and Hayley Griffiths. In the men's section, the top seeds are Heath and Edwin O'Dea. Edwin O'Dea is one of three O'Dea brothers competing. Ben O'Dea, 17, and Michael Watson were runners-up in Christchurch while Sam O'Dea, 19, teams up with Greg Lindsay-Brown. The men's international threat comes from Lars Gobisch and Wendelin Winkelmueller (Germany) and Aaron Crook and Adam Blackburn (Australia).

- © Fairfax NZ News