Australian Volleyroos captain Aidan Zingel is confident his side can secure its first win in the rich $8 million World League series when it hosts Finland at the AIS Arena this weekend.
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The Volleyroos arrived in Canberra on Monday after going down in their opening round in Belgium a fortnight ago before having a training camp against the Bulgarian national team.
It is the first time the Volleyroos have qualified for the prestigious competition since 1999 and will be the biggest volleyball event in Australia since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
The majority of the Volleyroos play professionally in Europe as the team continues to build in the lead-up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Ranked 14th in the world, Zingel believes the experience gained from playing Belgium and Bulgaria has the Volleyroos primed to put up a strong showing against Finland, which is ranked 30th.
"Realistically we should win,'' Zingel said.
''They're playing well to qualify for the world championships through Europe and are playing at a high level, but so are we.
''This is a massive opportunity and we want to perform.''
The Volleyroos lost both of their matches against Belgium, the first in straight sets before an improved performance in going down 3-1 in the second.
"We made slight improvements between the two matches which was excellent to see, but to show that progress against Bulgaria in those practice matches and against a stronger team was an exceptional result,'' Zingel said.
''We're in great shape leading into this weekend. It's going to be two high-quality matches and there's going to be some amazing rallies, whatever the result.''
They are in the second division of the World League and will host Belgium in Adelaide from June 27-28 and Canada in Sydney from July 5-6.
The finals will also be held in Sydney from July 11-12, with the winner qualifying for the super six tournament in Italy the following weekend.
Zingel, a 208-centimetre middle blocker, is carrying a back injury, but expects to be fit to face Finland.
Volleyroos coach Jon Uriarte said the team is progressing nicely and is hoping for a big crowd for both games in Canberra.
"We are rebuilding and we come from a very small pool of players,'' Uriarte said.
"We lost three stars after the London Olympics and we're getting close to this group being really competitive.''
World League: Australia v Finland at the AIS Arena. Saturday at 7pm. Sunday at 4pm. Tickets from Ticketek.
