BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Australia’s beach volleyball duo Nikki Laird and Mariafe del Solar’s maiden Olympic campaign is set to be a baptism of fire – and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
For their opening match the young, exuberant pair from Sydney’s Northern Beaches will face none other than the world’s top ranked side in the USA’s Kerry Walsh Jennings and April Ross.
They’ll be tipping off at the bodyclock-unfriendly timeslot of midnight.
They’ll be thrust into the limelight in front of 12,000 screaming fans in one of the biggest beach volleyball arenas ever built, in what will be the biggest game of their lives.
However according to their coach Lauren Soderberg, Laird and del Solar’s Millennial mindset has them primed to be the surprise packets of the tournament.
“They’re such a young team – it’s a bit of a YOLO theme that we’ve got going on,” Soderberg said.
“We’ve played [the Americans] before and we’ve gone to a really close three sets with them. We match up really well against this team. We need to bring our best game because they are one of the best teams in the world, but at the same time we’ve got to back ourselves.
“Our girls are a young team and they’re really excited to be here and I think that’s going to work to their advantage because they don’t have that expectation of performance, they’re just going to go out and give it their best crack.
“I think they’ll enjoy [being the underdog] and we’ve set it up in a way to give them the freedom to be aggressive and enjoy the experience.”
While they might not have the reputation of their more fancied opening match rivals, Laird, 23, and del Solar, 22, have solid form on the board, having taken out the Continental Cup event in June to secure their place at the Games.
“We’ve had a pretty amazing run into the Games… we set a lot of KPI’s for the 12 months and we’ve ticked a lot of them off which is good,” Soderberg said.
“History says we play well against top seeds and we have a history of upsetting a lot of top 10 teams. We’re playing to win.
Laird and del Solar join fellow Aussie pair Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy as Australia’s sole beach volleyball representatives at the Games.
How teams respond to the raucous atmosphere within Copacabana Stadium is expected to weigh into results, but Soderberg believed the conditions would provide a welcome boost.
“I think they’re going to love it, I really do,” Soderberg said.
“I think the crowd can only really lift them. There’s no home court pressure, it’s just [great] atmosphere, and that’s what athletes are looking for.”
Laird and del Solar’s Pool C match commences at midnight on Saturday.
