The New Zealand women's water polo team is knocking on the door of the quarterfinals of the FINA World Championships in Hungary.
The side finished second in their group after notching up two wins over Brazil (12-8) and Kazakhstan (15-11), meaning they will crossover with France for a place in the top eight.
The New Zealanders rebounded after an 11-2 loss to finals favourites Australia earlier in the week to defeat Kazakhstan on Saturday morning in what was a come-from-behind victory.
The Kiwi side was down by as many as three goals at the beginning of the third quarter, but powered ahead to ultimately out-score Kazakhstan 9-3 in the second half of the match.
Coach Angie Winstanley-Smith described it as a "great team performance".
Tauranga's Malia Josephson earned a player of the game nod, notching up four goals.
Libby Gault found the back of the net three times, as did Emmerson Houghton.
The hard fought win sees the New Zealanders (second in Group C) in a favourable position to cross over with France (third in Group D) for a quarter-final spot.
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New Zealand hasn't finished in the top eight at a world championships since 1991, when they secured a best finish of 7th.
Whether it's France or New Zealand who get the win early on Monday morning (NZT), they'll face Italy in the quarterfinals.
Either way, it's a huge effort from the team that's taking to the world stage for the first time since late 2019.
It'll be a rematch, after the two sides met in the build up to the world championships at a tournament in France two weeks ago.
The French had the upper hand 13-11 on that occasion.
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