The Oceania Volleyball World Cup qualification Phase one starts today at the Vodafone Arena.

Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga will compete for a spot next year in Asia.

New Zealand coach Colin Redpath is looking forward to the competition.

“We respect all the teams we play,” Redpath said.

“We appreciate what’s been done here by the Fiji Volleyball Association and we are very impressed with the competition so far.

Team captain Ben Glue added: “We are a team that comes from around New Zealand so we don’t have a lot of opportunities to play together. And it’s been really good to have a tournament to build-up and we are a young team as well.”

Tongan coach Esafe Latu confirmed two of their players who were scheduled to arrive last night will be part of the competition today.

“We had some financial problems but everything should be fine when we have a full team,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fijian coach Tevita Lewatitovo said the pressure is on his team.

Tonga and New Zealand will play the opening match of the qualifiers phase one tonight at 7.30pm.

Edited by Osea Bola

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