Karnataka men got off to a solid start registering a commanding 3-0 win over Andhra Pradesh in the opening encounter of the 15th Senior South Zone volleyball championships at the Sri Durga Parameshwari grounds here on Wednesday.

The State men won 25-11, 25-8 , 25-20 in less than an hour. Karnataka were made to sweat only in the third set which saw both teams going neck-and-neck. Andhra lead 11-8 at the start of the set, mainly due to the unforced errors from the hosts.

Imtiaz Ahmed and attacker Sagar then came up with a couple of smashes each to restore parity at 11-11 for Karnataka. But blockers Chandrashekar and Nagesh erred at crucial junctures to put the hosts in a spot of bother. The set was then evenly poised till 20-20.

The hosts then took the lead for the first time in the third set when Nagesh's produced a powerful cross-court smash. Nagesh then came up with a well timed block off a M Kapil smash to give Karnataka a well deserved win.
Earlier, the hosts secured a healthy lead before Andhra could settle down. Attacker Karthik and blocker Chandrashekar blended nicely to give Karnataka an upper hand. Chandrshekar was particularly impressive with his drops as the hosts claimed the first set 25-11 in 15 minutes.

Andhra's N Karim, who was totally out of sorts in the first set, didn't help his team's cause in the second too. It was mainly the Andhra men's largesse that helped hosts in the second set. Libero Vinod M and Sagar did well as the hosts won the second set 25-8.

Results:
Men: Karnataka bt Andhra Pradesh 25-11, 25-8, 25-20; Kerala bt Pondicherry 25-22, 25-19, 25-13.
Women: Tamil Nadu bt Andhra Pradesh 25-17, 25-7, 25-17; Karnataka bt Pondicherry 25-10, 25-8, 25-10.