Westlake Girl’s dynamic libero, Holly Isherwood, was instrumental in the New Zealand U17 Volleyball test series victory against Australia during the July holidays.

The young Kiwi team played five tests in five days, touring from Tauranga to Hamilton and Cambridge before finishing the series in Auckland on Monday 18 July. They came away with a convincing 5-0 series win and the Jenny Kirk Trophy – which had not been contested between the young New Zealand and Australian teams since 2012.  The games were hard-fought with three of the 5 tests going down to the wire in 5 sets before a regimented 3 – 0 finish in the final test in Auckland.

Holly was ecstatic with the result, and the opportunity. “The tour was an amazing experience,” she says.
“I not only grew as a player but as a person. I got to make fantastic friendships with both my NZ teammates and the Aussie girls too. The games were long and competitive, but at the end of the day regardless of the result, we were still able to enjoy spending time with the Aussie girls.  I’m super grateful for the opportunity.”

The tour had been two years in the making for the for the NZ U17 team, and under the shadow of Covid 19, they were more than well-prepared for the unknown Aussies.