A huge round of VNL action across all three divisions saw plenty of exciting contests and provided plenty of talking points.
Check out all the action below!
CHAMPIONSHIP
NORTH EAST BLAZE 53 def SOUTHERN SAINTS 51
HAWKS NETBALL 66 def PENINSULA 44
GEELONG COUGARS 42 def by MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY LIGHTNING 47
ARIELS 38 def by BOROONDARA EXPRESS 60
CASEY DEMONS 62 def by CITY WEST FALCONS 64
The Championship division boasted plenty of intriguing matchups this week, with two top-four matches shaking up the ladder while Peninsula and Southern Saints still sit at the bottom of the ladder without winss to their name. Saints put up a huge effort though, unfortunately just pipped at the post by North East Blaze who slip into fourth with this win.
The Saints have now suffered three losses by under three goals, with defender Lyshae Barry explaining that little errors seemed to be the side’s issue against the Blaze.
“We just continued to pick up each quarter, we were making a few little errors at the start, and that sort of was making that difference and then we just tied it up, and was trying to chase down, but Blaze just kept that intensity and right towards the end there was a couple opportunities to turn that over but we just couldn't quite get that through and Blaze's defence was amazing.
“Yeah, it was a really tight match across the board, both teams came out really strong and there was just a constant up and down between the two teams, there'd be a turnover here, turnover there and just that constant efforts from both teams.”
“I thought Kellie (Davidson) today was just relentless, she was on everything. She was constantly defending into attack, back to defence, she was just - there were no free passes, she wasn't letting anything go through so yeah, great effort to watch her and gave me a little hype up throughout watching her do amazing things.”
Barry’s own efforts alongside Davidson paid off, with the defensive duo mounting a wealth of pressure as Blaze’s Nyah Allen and Georgia Moody worked hard to put ball to post. Whilst the duo were accurate, they did not have the volume of ball within range to really take charge of the contest.
“We knew that they're quite a good team collectively and there was going to be that movement across the board, and we've got a few combos that we know work well together,” Barry explained. “But I guess as a whole, they work really well which is probably the difference so we knew we just had to come up against our own play and make sure we shut that down and did our role individually to then create the difference as a team.”
Comparatively, Boroondara collected the biggest win of the round with a 22-goal margin over Ariels, 60-38. Despite dropping the first three matches of the season, Express has recovered well with defender Michelle Massarany explaining the side has stepped up well transitioning the ball back down the court.
“We started off the season with a bit of a tough start against some really tough teams but now we've had three wins in a row, feeling really good, felt like the last quarter we've come off court with some great, you know, defensive plays and then taking it through to the goals.”
“Yeah I thought Tegan (Stephenson) in goal defence did a really great job of getting those tips and Uneeq (Palavi) was strong as always in the goal shooter position just didn't look like she could miss for a while, that really helped.”
Palavi put up a whopping 44 of the side’s 60 goals, aided ably by Stephanie Gorrie and Isabelle Hodson who missed just one goal each. Massarany commended the versatility of the Ariels, who did not shy away from positional changes.
“Yeah, I mean they're always quick with the ball, and you know they give a lot of options, lots of quick changes which just keeps you on your toes and they're always switching up those players,” Massarany explained.
“So yeah, they're always going to be a tough competition to come up against and you don't really know what you're going to face each day so yeah, they definitely put up a fight in the middle bit of the game and came back at us a bit but really happy that we could come out again.”
Hawks Netball had a blinder against Peninsula in a 66-44 contest, leading from the first quarter and proving relentless across the court. Nat Billings, Daisy Hill and Tayla Shannon had no issue finding the post with plenty of speedy ball movement entering the attack, while Peninsula just could not make up the difference despite a much better second half going 100 per cent in the third.
The two massive top four battles saw enticing battles, as City West Falcons got the victory over Casey Demons out at MSAC, taking charge in the first term and never relenting. It was a matter of stopping Jane Cook out the front, with the goal shooter posting a whopping 57 goals from 58 attempts in a stellar effort, while the shared Casey effort between Emma Ryde and Sacha McDonald just didn’t do the trick.
Meanwhile, the undefeated Melbourne University Lightning remained untouchable with another win in the books, downing Geelong Cougars by five goals. With both sides boasting ex-Suncorp Super Netball talent in Madi Browne, Shae Brown and Fiona Themann, there was no shortage of star-studded moments. Gabby Coffey and Themann provided the hands over pressure to cause inaccuracy from the usually composed Zanna Woods and Julia Woolley, as the midcourt rotations paid off for Lightning.
DIVISION ONE
GEELONG COUGARS 60 def MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY LIGHTNING 43
ARIELS 37 def by BOROONDARA EXPRESS 61
CASEY DEMONS NETBALL 46 def by CITY WEST FALCONS 48
HAWKS NETBALL 58 def PENINSULA 40
NORTH EAST BLAZE 51 def SOUTHERN SAINTS 50
Boroondara continued their winning ways last night, downing Ariels by 24 goals. Express had it all their own way for majority of the game with their silky connections down court proving too much for the Ariels. Unfortunately the Ariels were without their coach due to current quarantine restrictions in place in Melbourne but that is not to take away from the strong output from Express who controlled proceedings from the opening term.
Defender, Anna Donnelly had a lot to say about how the game unfolded, with the long armed and tenacious goal keeper paying credit to the way in which Boroondara went about their business to grind out the game.
“It was a pretty good win for us, I feel like we started it was really, even at the start, and then we slowly came away. We were up by quite a bit in the third quarter, but it felt like they were coming back so it was still a really competitive game they're a really, really tough team and they're very physical.”
Picking up intercepts herself down back and wreaking havoc, Donnelly also highlighted the overall pressure employed by Boroondara to shut down any easy avenue to post for the Ariels, along with the importance of treasuring possession.
“We had really good centre pass conversions tonight, which was a good focus for us. A lot of the girls had amazing games, our centre Chelsea she was unbelievable tonight, both in attack and defence and our attackers actually got a lot of intercepts Chev got about three or four attacking intercepts as a goal attack which was awesome.”
Moving onto the other games and the battle between the Saints and North East Blaze was a real nail-biter as Blaze just pipped their opponents at the post by a mere goal. The lead changed hands multiple times throughout the game with Olivia Ellis labelling the contest “bloody crazy” given the high intensity and physical battle out on court.
“It was definitely one of the most physical games we've come up against. We found out in preseason they were pretty physical as well, and yeah, again, they've been pretty physical with us today and I think we've learnt now that we need to really take ownership in the presence of the ball.”
It was by no means an easy feat for the Blaze who were pushed every step of the way. However the win leaves Blaze undefeated for the season with six victories to their name with Ellis noting the importance of full court pressure and noise from the bench to spur them on.
“I think that full court pressure all the way up the court, it's such a high pressure situation and unfortunately if you miss the goal, it can be quite a big deal. I felt that everyone in the attack line stepped up when they missed a goal to build that pressure down the court and we were getting intercepts in that defensive third.”
Ellis also recognised the great work of stalwart Sam Coppinger who played centre for the entire 60 minutes along with a couple of other handy players out on court such as under 19s captain Maddie George.
“She's really stepped up and played that wing defence role throughout majority of the game, which is really good, for her to see, she's really good at getting off that body and I felt that pressure build up especially in that centre line when we worked all together.”
Geelong Cougars got the job done against Melbourne University Lightning by seven goals. The Cougars led from the first quarter right through to the final whistle as Georgina Cuthberston and Aleisha McDonald starred under the post shooting at a combined 83%. Maggie Caris and Eliza Gollant had their work cut out for them down back for the Lightning while Ellen Doyle showcased her versatility for Geelong spending time both in goal keeper and goal shooter.
City West Falcons snuck over the line against Casey in what was a strong fightback from the Demons. The Falcons held control for most of the game, before a couple of positional changes saw the Demons get back within touching distance as Taylah Butterworth and Taylor Dykstra combined in the final term to peg back the margin. however it was too little, too late as the Falcons walked away with the win credit to the dominance of Caitlin Hill under the post (19/23 83%) and the classy work of Nyibol Akec through the midcourt.
The final game saw Hawks hand the Peninsula Waves another loss. Bursting out of the gates, the Hawks made no mistakes in attack spurred on by Elle Rice (25/27 93%) and Beth Wilson (21/28 75%) inside the circle as the two complemented each other’s play and created headaches for Eliza McGuigan and Ebony Dolan for the Waves. Jasmine Mackie was the go-to girl for Peninsula under the ring posting 24 goals with Hawks defenders Olivia Spence and Emily Kay forced to double team her at times.
19U
HAWKS NETBALL 45 drew with PENINSULA 45
ARIELS 54 def BOROONDARA EXPRESS 50
CASEY DEMONS 32 def by CITY WEST FALCONS 47
NORTH EAST BLAZE 39 def by SOUTHERN SAINTS 53
GEELONG COUGARS 43 def by MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY LIGHTNING 47
It was a big round across the 19&U division, as the competition saw its second draw for the season, amongst a couple of blowout results and closer scorelines. Southern Saints registered one of the biggest results of the round, boosting its percentage in the process with a 14-goal victory over North East Blaze - who sat above them on the ladder prior.
Saints’ Malia Gale was impressed by and proud of her team’s ability to stand up in the second half and force errors from the Blaze, who only trailed by one at the first change.
“I think we were tied in the first quarter, and then we were down by one,” Gale explained. “Quarter three and fourth quarter was when we started to lift our game and we could see that our defensive pressure was really having an effect on the other team.
“We were really proud of that because we've been working on that so hard during training, so it just shows that our hard work really is paying off. But yeah, it was really consistent, our defensive pressure throughout the whole court and I couldn't be prouder of the girls.”
Gale was impressed by the work-rate, endurance and attitude of teammate Tadiwa Kahonde, with the agile midcourter not stopping throughout the contest.
I do think that Tadi, she really came out and just, she was so tired. Everyone was so tired but I really think that Tadi really came out and helped encourage the girls as well. You could just see the fatigue and it just really lifted us up and let us know we're tired. She's tired but she's able to do that so we can do it too. She was really inspiring.”
Kahonde created a huge battle with Blaze wing attack Ella Rhodes, who was unable to be her influential self around circle edge. Gale credited Blaze’s defensive workrate, explaining that their midcourt effort also posed problems for the Saints in the first half.
“They were very strong with their movement in the circle. They were switching up defenders, and it was hard to try and get around so I was having difficulty trying to find a position that held properly. They were very strong in their midcourt as well, it was a really good competition to play against tonight.”
Peninsula really took it up to Hawks in a huge 45-all battle, seeing the ladder-leading Hawks really tested in the see-sawing battle at Oakleigh Rec Centre. While Peninsula led at the first change, it did not take long for Hawks to kick into gear to lead by three at the main change and two with 15 minutes left on the clock, before Peninsula outscored the Hawks 13-11 in the final quarter to share the points this week.
Simona Di Filippo was a livewire through the midcourt for Hawks, while Hannah Keane was an accurate target out the front shooting 25 from 29, with ample assistance applied by both Keeley Burgmann and Dee Dee Deng to combine for 18 goals. For Peninsula, Ella Roberton was impressive with a 29 goal haul.
The next closest matchup played out between Ariels and Boroondara, with another seesawing battle seeing Express lead for a significant portion of the matchup, before Ariels bit back in the second half to register the 54-50 victory. A huge battle waged through the midcourt between Ariels’ Clara Choi and Express’ Casey Dunstan, while both sides boasted agile goalers who shared the load around.
For Ariels, volume to post proved to be the winning recipe with the side scoring 54 goals of 71 attempts, with Taylah Werner and Aysha Blade accounting for 29 and 18 respectively, while Rose Laidlaw put up 30 of her side’s goals at an excellent 89 per cent.
Meanwhile, Melbourne University Lightning and City West Falcons registered wins to complete the round, with the former just pipping Geelong at the post and staving off an excellent Cougars comeback, while the latter claimed a 15-goal victory over Casey Demons in a highly defensive matchup.
Lightning’s Lavinia Fox lit up the court in her side’s final quarter, finding her range and shooting true as the decision to move Grace Markovic from wing defence back to goal defence paid off, while Cougars’ Brooke Wilson was hard to stop with her great body positioning and Ella Rees proved a hard nut to crack at the back end.
For Falcons, Alexandra Keating was hard to stop, no matter which position she slotted into as she easily rotated through the centre court and defensive end, as Casey struggled to find avenues to post.
