Volleyball: Night to savour for men's team

The New Zealand men's volleyball team made history last night when they retained the Trans-Tasman Trophy for the first time by beating Australian Universities 3-2 at Timaru in a thrilling contest.

The intensity was evident from the outset as the Kiwis looked to wrap up the five-match series with one game to play in Christchurch tonight.

New Zealand had won the first two matches in Christchurch and Dunedin before the Australians bounced back to win the third in Invercargill on Wednesday night.

After going down 21-25 in the first set, New Zealand hit back to take the next two 25-16 and 25-17.

Australia pulled away to win the fourth 25-20 to force the first-to-15-point decider.

New Zealand rallied and strung together some marvellous plays, mixing power with precision to close it out 15-9.