The first day of play in the Northern Zone Volleyball league in Auckland at the weekend saw the new-look Northland Women's team cause an upset with a 3-0 thrashing of highly-fancied Waitakere 3-0.
Led by captain Lenna Milton, the Northland women impressed from the outset, showing impressive team cohesion consideringthey've only had three training sessions together.
Suzy McAsey (nee Easterbrook) returned to the indoor game after 16 years away and helped to guide the younger players along with Milton.
Vanessa Wynyard was a great playmaker at setter and put young guns Jasmine Stephens and Briahn Ruri in good position to win some strong points.
Young Tikipuga High School middle blocker Lily Olsen showed enormous potential in her first senior outing while Alyssa Rudolph had a solid passing game.
The Women's B team also had an encouraging start to the season.
Comprising of mostly schoolgirls, they gave their opposition plenty to worry about and although they lost both games, they made it tough for the opposition.
Olivia Sikasini particularly impressed playing in the setter's role.
The Northland men have a huge amount of young talent in their squad who will take time to get used to the senior stage.
Coached by Jason Woods, they showed why there are numerous NZ schoolboy representatives in the team.
It was the first time for most of the youngsters to play against senior men and although they lost both games, there were some tight sets.
The Northland teams will play every second weekend in Auckland until the end of June and then it will be home and away with the hope of qualifying for National Club Champs in late August.
