Unlike indoor volleyball, where the two competing teams field six players each, teams in beach volleyball can only field two players per side on the court.
These two players can perform two positions during the game: Blocker or Defender.
The blocker is the player that guards the net and contests the opponent's spikes with his or her longer reach and quick reflexes.
The defender guards the rest of the court and digs out spikes or chases looped-up shots into the open areas of the court. The defender is usually the more agile of the two teammates since it takes tremendous acceleration to get across the court and keep rallies alive.
However, unlike indoor volleyball where each team has players with five defined roles, teams in beach volleyball usually use both their players as the blocker and defender based on whether the player is guarding the right-side or left-side of the court.
After all this explanation, we can see that the four people playing in the middle of the White Sand Beach, at Naeelis Island, were not kidding as they played against each other.
As Theo and Shizuka had the most explosive strength, they performed the defender position for their respective teams. While Aurora and Ayia faced each other as the blockers.
Although had higher arm strength, Shizuka's arm strength was not low either, so the teams were close in terms of raw strength.
While Theo prepared to serve the ball to the other side of the court, Aurora and Ayia faced each other with wide smiles.
"Don't worry, little sis! I'll take it easier with you." Ayia provoked with a mischievous smile.
"Hmm, great! This way I'll be able to properly greet you into the family... with a defeat." Aurora replied with a smile.
The two girls laughed out loud and waited for the game to start.
Just like siblings played and provoked each other, Ayia and Aurora felt like they were siblings provoking each other.
They were so happy to moment. At that moment, they truly felt like family.
But it didn't take long for Theo to serve the ball in a tricky angle to Shizuka to defend.
If Shizuka was a normal person, she wouldn't be able to defend against Theo's serve, but in an acrobatic move, Shizuka jumped to the back and threw the ball to Ayia without looking at her.
Ayia saw the ball coming at her and became serious, when the ball arrived at her, she passed the ball to position next to the net.
While the ball was still traveling toward Ayia, Shizuka had already stood up and started running toward the net. When Ayia passed the ball, Shizuka was already there to attack the ball to the other court.
Their movement was fluid and fast that it seemed like they were professional beach volleyball players!
But Theo and Aurora didn't shy away when they saw their skillful moves.
As soon as Ayia passed the ball, Aurora and Theo knew where the attack would happen, so they moved to defend.
Aurora ran to block the attack at the net while Theo ran to the side of the court where Aurora wasn't blocking.
When Shizuka attacked the ball, she saw Aurora's arms blocking half of the court while Theo guarded the other side of the court.
Seeing their well-guarded defense, she could only attack the ball to fall away from Theo in the hope that he wouldn't be to reach it.
But he did it, Theo put strength on his legs and jumped at least 2 meters to defend the attack still in the air.
Theo's skill level was high as well because, at the same time that he defended against Shizuka's trick shot, he passed the ball to Aurora.
That required extreme control of his arms muscles and bones.
Aurora didn't even question his impossible defense as she passed the ball to the point next to the net.
Just like Shizuka, Theo started running toward the net as soon as he passed the ball to Aurora. So, when she passed the ball to the point next to the net, he was already there to attack the ball midair.
Ayia and Shizuka showed the same level of defense as Theo and Aurora performed just a few moments before, Ayia blocked one side of the court at the net while Shizuka defended the other side of the court at the sand.
Although Ayia had a smaller height than Theo, she still could perform high jumps, so when Theo attacked from midair, Ayia performed a sensational jump to block him at the same level he was at midair.
Theo registered their well-guarded defense in a slit of a second and decided to explore it.
When he attacked the ball, he attacked in Ayia's direction!
Some people might think he was crazy because if attacked in her direction, she would block it and the ball would come on his foot, consequently giving away the point to Ayia and Shizuka.
That's why when Theo hit the ball, he slightly turned his hand before hitting it.
This twist was that he was counting to win the point.
He wanted to explore Ayia's block to win the point!
This move consisted of Theo registering where Ayia's arms were, and aiming to the side of the arms to touch them. The ball would pass to the other court after touching Ayia's arm, it would probably go out of bounds, but after touching Ayia, the point would be his and Aurora's!
It was an extremely risky move, as the chances of Ayia moving the arm in the last second were high and any slight deviation could make Ayia block the shot and score the point.
But it seemed like Theo was in luck as Ayia didn't move her arm, and the ball successfully touched her before heading out of bounds.
Shizuka still tried to run toward the ball to save it, but when she arrived, the ball had already touched the sand.
"Yeah!" Theo and Aurora exclaimed happily as they high-fived.
The crowd that gathered to watch the match was dumbfounded as they watched their game.
"Are they professional players?"
They were shocked that their friends could perform just like professional players.
While the crowd was amazed by their performance, Ayia and Shizuka narrowed their eyes as they looked at Theo and Aurora commemorating winning the point.
"You're bold, huh?" Ayia commented with a dangerous smile on her face.
"Babe, you shouldn't be a sore loser." Theo said with an amused smile.
Ayia's smile became even more dangerous at that moment, she already decided to teach a lesson to her boyfriend.
"Really? I dare you to perform the same attack later." Ayia said with a smile.
She really didn't expect that he was bold enough to perform such a tricky shot at her expense!
She had to get back at him!
"Challenged accepted." Theo replied with a wide smile.
At that moment, boyfriend and girlfriend faced each other to decide who was better at volleyball!
But who would win it all?