The tournament, which has attracted 55 teams, gets under way this evening.
Volleyball Otago has entered two under-17 girls teams and two under-20 women’s team as well as a senior men’s side and an under-17 boy’s team.
Volleyball stalwart Jock Murley said it was the largest contingent Otago had sent to the tournament.
"In the past the nationals have been further north ... so the cost has been fairly prohibitive," he said.
"But for the next few years it is going to be in Wellington, so it will make it a bit more accessible to us. And this year there is a greater range of categories."
Murley is coaching the top under-20 women’s team and is unsure how Otago teams will go at the event.
"I think we will have some fairly tough games. It is difficult to ascertain the strength of some of the other regions," he said.
"But I think the under-20 team that I’ve got will be a surprise to some teams because a lot of them are university girls who come from all sorts of different areas.
"In that team we’ve got Maddy Campbell, who was captain of the under-18 national team which recently went to China. We’ve also got Laina Samia from Hawke’s Bay, who has just returned from Thailand with the New Zealand under-23 team.
"So we have a couple of really strong players but it is difficult to tell what the end result will be."
Murley predicts Canterbury will be very strong in the women’s under-20 grade, while the North Harbour teams will hard to beat in most grades.
The tournament concludes on Sunday.
