Beach Fern Olivia MacDonald in action during the recent Beach Volleyball World Championships.
Piopio’s Olivia MacDonald and her teammate Shaunna Polley were knocked out of the recent Beach Volleyball World Championships, but not without making a splash.
Beach Ferns, Olivia MacDonald (left) and teammate Shaunna Polley (foreground), in action during the recent Beach Volleyball World Championships. Photo Volleyball NZ.
Off to a rocky start, downed by an American pair, the Beach Ferns secured wins against Italian and Canadian duos before their run was thwarted by a pair from Germany.
“Two wins from three games was pretty good going,” MacDonald said. “It was super emotional when we lost, but messages from home have been incredibly positive and we’ve had a huge crew with us here in Adelaide – our extra cheer squad gave us a few points at least, I think.”
Ironically, MacDonald doesn’t spend much time at the beach as such and during her childhood at least, she was no fan of sand.
“When I was at Piopio Primary, I remember refusing to go into the sandpit because I hated sand. So, yeah, I guess times have changed,” she said. “We actually don’t play on beaches very often, though. They’ll ship sand into a town square in Europe, for example, and they brought sand into a tennis stadium for this tournament.”
Indoor volleyball requires a hard court and teams of six, whereas beach volleyball is played by pairs. As sand slows players down, the game requires more powerful jumping, agility and ball control.
“Because there are only two of us, there’s nowhere to hide,” MacDonald said.
“You can jump higher on an indoor court and compared to soft sand, the hard surface can be pretty unforgiving so the injury risk is higher.”
Introduced to volleyball while attending New Plymouth Girl’s High, MacDonald didn’t quite take to it like a duck to water.
“I was tall so they thought they could make something out of me. I wasn’t very good at first played, but I just loved it.”
Beach Fern Olivia MacDonald in action during the recent Beach Volleyball World Championships. Photo Volleyball NZ.
While still at high school, MacDonald turned her game inside out, exchanging indoor for beach volleyball. After first representing New Zealand at under-19 level, she attended the University of Arizona on a sports scholarship, graduating in 2018.
Since then, MacDonald has been chasing the sun.
“I haven’t seen a winter in years. I’ve spent most winters trying to crack it on the international scene,” she said. “It’s been tough, but I’ve just been grinding away.”
This daily grind has paid off especially since pairing up with Polley – the Waikato duo claimed gold medals at two major tournaments in Asia this year alone.
“It’s only our first season together and we’re going good. We also won a couple silvers this year and we came third in a new professional league in Germany,” MacDonald said.
Her game has come along in leaps and bounds recently, but it’s required a somewhat nomadic existence.
“I don’t actually live anywhere really. I’ve spent most of my time overseas, aside from a few weeks a year at our training centre in Mount Maunganui. All my belongings are still at my parents’ in Piopio so, whenever I come back, Mum and Dad pick me up, then I unpack, repack and head to the Mount again.”
MacDonald and Polley will likely be back at the Mount for January’s NZ Beach Volleyball Tour competition where, all going well, they will be hot favourites.
“We have both won the New Zealand Tour a few times separately, so I definitely would back us to win it again, together this time.”
Polley has represented New Zealand twice at the Commonwealth Games while MacDonald was a non-travelling reserve in 2022. The sport has since been dropped from the Comms’ programme, but winning Olympic laurels in LA (2028) is still on the cards.
“We’re on track if we continue at the pace, we’re at now. New Zealand hasn’t had a team qualify for the Olympics, so it would be awesome to be the first,” said MacDonald. “Before that, the World Champs in the Netherlands will be crucial. There’s a huge amount of points on the line, which helps with rankings and Olympic qualification.”
Beach Fern Olivia MacDonald in action during the recent Beach Volleyball World Championships. Photo Volleyball NZ.
