Mount volleyball winners eye world beach stage

They signed off in style but don't think yesterday's national beach volleyball championships at Mount Maunganui was the last hurrah for Mike Peters and Brendon Heath.
The experienced beach partnership have been training and playing in Adelaide and yesterday made a flying visit back home to the Mount's main beach to grab the Bayfair-sponsored season-ending national title.
Peters and Heath beat scratch pairing Jason Lochhead and Russell Watson (New Plymouth) 21-11, 19-21, 15-13 to win the men's final.
Lochhead was playing without regular partner Kirk Pitman, who had coaching commitments on Saturday.
Lochhead and Pitman, the No1-ranked Kiwi duo, leave again in April to play on the world tour after finishing last season ranked 36th in the world.
If Heath and Peters get their way they might be about to join them for part of the tour later in the year.
Heath, 26, said after yesterday's win they planned to test the waters on the world tour if they could get enough cash together.
"It's all about the bucks at the moment - it's all riding on how much cash we can scrape together in the next few months as to whether we'll go.
"Our plan is to do 3-4 events near the end of the tour. I think it'd be great to have another couple of guys on the tour pushing Kirk and Jason.
"We played against some of the top 25-ranked teams (during the New Zealand summer pro tour), including some of the best blockers in the game, and we think we went alright."
Heath and Peters have been based at the South Australia Institute of Sport in Adelaide for the past month. They fly back tomorrow and will be in action again this weekend.
Peters and Heath toppled beach legend Craig Seuseu and his partner Hayden Jones in yesterday's semifinal in three sets, winning a marathon third set decider 26-24. Lochhead and Watson put locals Mike Hynds and Damon Haenga out 21-15 18-21 15-8.
The women's final was over in two sets, No 1 pairing Lucy Todd and Susan Blundell too strong for Te Puke's Tamara King and her Auckland-based partner Nikki Moreland, winning 21-18 21-16.
King and Moreland hooked up at the last minute and put up a good fight, with King, a veteran of the national champion Te Puke women's indoor team, superb in back court.
"We didn't really know what to expect this weekend but our combination got stronger the longer we progressed," King said.
"The final was all about being competitive and not letting the score blow out to embarrassing levels."
For Blundell and Todd, who based themselves in Tauranga in between two forays onto the world tour, yesterday's tournament might have signalled the end.
Blundell, after a year in Auckland, is now studying in Wellington while Todd is doing pharmaceutical research in Christchurch.
The pair did well on the New Zealand pro tour but didn't have the time to put into their game. There was also the financial commitment, with Todd flying up to Tauranga at least eight times during the summer.
"Today was a good way to finish the season but whether it is the end of us as a team only time will tell," Todd said.
"We have no plans for the future and haven't even spoken about next season. There's no plans at this stage to go back on the world tour, although Susan's young enough to maybe have another look.
"We've been at it fulltime for a couple of years and had a really great time but if you're not prepared to put in what is required to get (a good result) out then there's little point."
Results:
Men's semifinals: Jason Lochhead-Russell Watson bt Mike Hynds-Damon Haenga 21-15 18-21 15-8, Mike Peters-Brendon Heath bt Craig Seuseu-Hayden Jones 16-21 21-16 26-24.
Final: Peters-Heath bt Lochhead-Watson 21-11 19-21 15-23.
Women's semifinals: Lucy Todd-Susan Blundell bt Hayley Stovold-Emma Genner-Preston 21-8 21-17, Tamara King-Nikki Moreland bt Marnie Grant-Jo Waller 21-15 16-25 15-9. Final: Todd-Blundell bt King-Moreland 21-18 21-16.