LIFE Studio captain Mardi Aplin described her team's Orange Toyota Cup win over High A as "unexpected" on Saturday.
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The competition powerhouses scored a 59-30 win over the students in a hotly-contested match at the PCYC courts.
"That was unexpected. I was happy with the way it went today," Aplin said.
"In the third quarter we went down a bit, otherwise the other three quarters were pretty consistent. It flowed quite nicely."
There was no warming into the game, with both sides contesting every ball from the first whistle.
As they settled into their games, Life Studio found a rhythm and were up 18-6 after the first quarter.
Life Studio extended their lead to 33-13 at the main break with Aplin missing just two of her 14 shots at goal.
High A made life a bit tougher for Life Studio in the third quarter and were able to restrict them to 11 goals, while goal shooter Maddy Hales started to find her range for the students.
High A continued to push Life Studio in the final quarter and only lost it 15-11, with young shooter Katie Eslick missing just one of her nine goal attempts.
"It was good to have that first game against one of the top teams," High A coach Tegan Dray said.
"We finished with a list of things we thought we did well and things we can improve on."
Dray said Life Studio's experience was the difference but she was still happy with her young side.
"The girls were competitive right through," she said.
"They played much more as a team this week."
The battle between High A goal attack Katie Eslick and Life Studio goal defence Sophie Beer was a highlight of the match.
"That was a good tussle. Neither of them are afraid of the physicality of the game," Dray laughed.
"Soph (Beer) had a blinder in defence, and whatever she didn't get Em (Brotherton) picked up in the back end," Aplin said.
Life Studio will have its biggest test so far this season when they go up against six-time defending champions Robin Hood next weekend.
The two sides have met in the last five Orange Netball Association division one grand finals and even their regular season matches are something special.
Both sides are undefeated after the opening four rounds this season after Robin Hood accounted for CYMS Gladiators 64-37 on Saturday.
In the other Orange Toyota Cup matches Kinross 1sts celebrated a 48-42 win over LS DVM Embroidery, while Royal Hawks accounted for Hawks Ace Drilling 47-29.