Adax Brienen looks to continue his rapid spike in form

Coming off a gold medal triumph with his partner Adam Fejes in the U-19s Australian Junior Beach Volleyball Tour in Brisbane last weekend, Brienen is looking forward to a full calendar in 2023.

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Ahead on the agenda for the 16-year-old are the NSW Championships in Manly, the Australian Juniors - which will be held in Wollongong in March as well as Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships in Coolangatta.

The Illawarra Academy Of Sport Lonestar athlete also has one eye on July where he will be headed to Hermosa Beach in the USA for the AVP Junior Nationals - where he and partner Fejes will look to go one better from their silver finish in the U-16s in 2022.

Brienen and Fejes claimed bronze in the Canberra edition of the Tour just weeks before their Brisbane victory and Brienen told the Mercury that falling short in the nation's capital made their win in the sunshine state that much sweeter.

"It was a great win because this whole season we've been edging [to victory] by getting a lot of third places and that was our first big tournament that we've won together," he said.

"For us that was a really good achievement together. We had a couple of very tough battles and we played against some really good teams up there so it was very exciting. We [Brienen and Fejes] got partnered together about a year ago now and we've been playing basically non-stop in every tournament since then.

"So we've really built our partnership together and we're becoming better players together. We're trying new stuff out and it's good to have someone that you're always with so you can learn from them and make a good connection as well as build a style of your game."

Currently sitting in 38^th and 36^th on the Australian Beach Volleyball Rankings respectively, both Brienen and Fejes are looking to improve on their already impressive position through hard work and determination.

"I think both of us really want to try and get into the top 20s, top 15s, top 10s, as an end goal but that will still take a couple of years," Brienen said.

"There is still a bit of development between now and then. We do really want to try and get our ranking up there because it's better for seeds for tournaments and it's just a cool accolade to have."

Brienen's family have had a huge influence on his love for the game.

His father Patrick and his older sister Kaia both have been involved in the game at a high level. The youngster attributes his early days with his dad as well as an early setback in the game however as the main reasons he is so passionate about the sport.

"I started playing volleyball about three or four years ago when I was in year seven," he added.

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"Back then they announced they were having trials in school for the South Coast team for the CHS [Combined High School] stuff and I heard about that and I thought that would be cool. I never really played competitive volleyball before that but I was just very interested in it so I went to that trial.

"I didn't make the team but I was selected as a shadow player and I learnt a lot from being a shadow player. Then in the next couple of years I really started getting into the sport. [I started] doing a lot of training and started to try and push to be a lot better.

"For me, just being on the beach drew me to playing beach volleyball. And also my dad was an influence on me because he would always take me to the beach on the weekends to go and watch him [play] and swim and I just started learning the sport then.

"That's what drew me to volleyball. What drew me to the competitive side was that feeling of winning tournaments and doing well and progressing."

As part of the IAS' Lonestar program, Brienen trains in Narrabeen with the NSW Phoenix Elite squad and is mentored by his father Patrick.

"Being involved with the Illawarra Academy of Sport gives me a lot of great opportunities. They have gym, media and workshop programs as well as food and nutrition information. So they have a lot of opportunities for me to work with."

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