THE Australian Volleyroos have vowed to continue their aggressive approach at this week's World Grand Prix event in Bendigo.
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Play in the four-team international tournament starts at the Bendigo Stadium this Friday, with the Volleyroos drawn to meet Colombia.
They will play Cuba on Saturday and Croatia on Sunday.
The Croatians were the first of the international teams to arrive in Australia, playing two warm-up matches against the Volleyroos in Dandenong on Friday and Saturday
They defeated the Australians three sets to one on Friday night and 3-0 on Saturday.
Volleyroos coach Shannon Winzer said her team had played their best volleyball while adopting an attacking approach, most notably in clawing back a 19-24 deficit to win the third set 26-24 on Friday.
"We said we we were always going to play aggressive and I think when we did that we were really successful," Winzer said.
"When we went back to laying safe we struggled
"Our passing struggled in all the sets, so we struggled to run a more varied offence.
"The best thing is we were able to come back. We kept fighting and fighting and never gave up."
Winzer said the serving of former Bendigo volleyballer Karley Hynes had been a feature of the Croatian series and in a pair of wins earlier last week against New Zealand.
She said the team was now looking forward to travelling to Bendigo
"I want us to get better every single time we play and every single time we train," she said.
"If we can do that by the time we get to the World Grand Prix we will be ready for some of these teams.
“We are looking forward to getting up (to Bendigo) and getting started.”
The Grand Prix represents an opportunity for the Volleyroos to improve on their 41st world ranking.
Cuba will enter the round robin event ranked 20th in the world, narrowly ahead of Croatia (21st) and Colombia (27th).
The visiting international teams will be welcomed to the city at a civic reception at Bendigo Town Hall on Thursday at 4.45pm.