Monash beach volleyball is on the rise and it’s time to prove it

Jarrah Brownhill (left) and Dakota Lipton (not pictured) will lead Monash volleyball at Nationals.

Phot courtesy: Jarrah Brownhill.

In the past 12 months Team Monash beach volleyball has grown from having one team and only two athletes, to three teams and ten athletes. 

Much of this growth can be attributed to the hard-work of two superstar athletes, Jarrah Brownhill and Dakota Lipton.

“Last year we sent only Jarrah and myself (to Nationals) for Team Monash, whereas almost every other Uni had multiple teams,” Lipton said.

“We thought ‘there’s plenty of volleyball around Monash’, so we put out the feelers to try and get more teams together and we were successful.”

Despite being the only two beach volleyball athletes representing Monash at last year’s Division 2 (Div 2) Nationals, the pair managed to win gold in the Men’s competition and qualify for Division 1 (Div 1) this year.

With Div 1 on the horizon, Lipton said not only do he and Brownhill have something to prove, but so does all of Monash volleyball.

“Last year (Div 2 2018) was to set up this year, it was to go and get in the finals and come away with gold so that we could go up and play Div 1 this year,” Lipton said.

“This time (Div 1 2019) the goal is pretty much the same - go and win gold again - prove that we should have been in Div 1 all along.

“Jarrah and I feel pretty confident that we’ve got a good chance of coming away with some sort of medal if not gold.

“The other teams have a lot of experience in volleyball as-well, so we’ve got a really good chance of getting some pretty good results this year.”

Expect big things from Monash volleyball on the Gold Coast.

Photo courtesy: Jarrah Brownhill.

As National’s veterans and the catalysts for Monash beach volleyballs growth, Lipton and Brownhill have been open in providing guidance and support for the less experienced squad members.  

“A few of the mixed and the girl’s pairs are feeling a bit anxious because none of them have done it (attended National’s) before, so we’ve tried to break down that barrier but overall everyone’s mostly excited,” Brownhill said.

Monash beach volleyball has grown exponentially this past year and will look to continue to grow and compete at the highest level. A strong effort at Nationals could go a long way towards continual growth in the future.

Brownhill said he is already enjoying everything that’s come with a bigger collective of Monash beach volleyball athletes and is excited to get after it on the Gold Coast in the coming weeks.

“It’s actually quite amazing,” Brownhill said.  

“We’ve got a little community now which feels really good.

“As a group we want to achieve our best, we’ve got very good athletes…and we know we can perform well.

"It’s (Nationals) going to be a bit different which is exciting. More teams, more competition, different levels and as always we are keen and ready.”

Written by Joseph Arthur, Media Coordinator