THE mercury may be dipping to minus 20 degrees in the Finnish town of Orivesi, but its volleyball team featuring former Bendigo star Eliza Karley Hynes is in sizzling hot form.
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With play-offs just a month away, OrPo sits in second place on the ladder in the country's female premier league, having won 14 of its 19 games this season.
They are a game clear of third place.
The side lost a closely-fought five-set encounter with competition leader LP Viesti on January 18.
But they followed up with comprehensive 3-0 victories over Pieksamaki last weekend and Kuortane on Wednesday night.
Hynes, who has just turned 22, is one of the key playmakers for OrPo in her debut professional season.
Just weeks after her first match, she had the honour of being named one of the Finnish premier league's female players of the month for October.
She regularly features in action photos posted on the OrPo club's Facebook page and is enjoying life in Scandinavia, freezing conditions and all.
The ex-Maiden Gully girl secured a playing contract with the European club after returning to the indoor game following several years as an elite beach volleyballer at the Australian Institute of Sport.
This included winning a bronze medal at the world youth championships in Portugal in 2010.
She has represented Australia at both junior and senior level in indoor volleyball and was an outstanding junior netballer who played for a national schoolgirl team in her teens.
Finland's women volleyball league consists of nine teams from across the country, including one from as far north as Rovaniemi in Lapland.
The final round of home-and-away matches will be played on February 22.