The New Zealand women's beach volleyball pair of Alice Zeimann and Shaunna Polley have been defeated by Vanuatu's Miller Pata and Sherysyn Toko in their bronze medal match in Birmingham.

Zeimann and Polley went down 2-1 [21-10, 22-20, 15-10] in an epic final.

Coming into the match, the Vanuatu duo had won every single pool game before losing their semi-final against Australia.

New Zealand had lost in pool play and in the semi-final against Canada, so they knew they had to come out strong in Monday's match.

They did just that, coming out firing in the first set to lead 7-0 as they looked confident and calm on attack.

As Vanuatu tried to make a comeback, New Zealand were able to maintain their lead with desperation and great anticipation on defence to lead 16-6.

READ MORE: Full coverage from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

Despite Pata and Toko starting to find their feet, it was mostly a smooth run for the Kiwis to close out the first set 21-10.

Vanuatu had a better start in the second set, as both teams went back and forth trading points.

As both sides fought till the end, it was a nervy set as they closed in on 20 points a piece. Vanuatu held on to lead 22-20 as the Kiwis couldn't execute, taking the game to a deciding third set.

Pata and Toko remained composed and carried their momentum into a dominant final round as the New Zealanders couldn't quite catch up.