After a three-week hiatus due to lockdown 5.0, VNL sides were eager to get back into the swing of things as Round 11 got underway on Wednesday night.
And with highlights including MUL Championship captain Maddy Stewart starring in her 150th VNL game, a huge upset win in Division One and a one-goal nail-biter in the 19&U Division, this round undoubtedly produced the goods.
Read on below to catch up on all the action!
CHAMPIONSHIP
CITY WEST FALCONS 62 def HAWKS NETBALL 45
MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY LIGHTNING 69 def CASEY DEMONS NETBALL 37
NORTH EAST BLAZE 41 def by GEELONG COUGARS 57
ARIELS 46 def by BOROONDARA EXPRESS 63
City West Falcons have continued to assert their dominance over the Championship division, this time downing the seventh-placed Hawks by 17 goals.
Despite a strong start from the Hawks, courtesy of some sublime performances from Clare Johnson and Jasmine Ferguson, Falcons trio Maggie Lind, Melissa Oloamanu and Soli Ropati upped the ante in the second term to gain an 8-goal lead by half time.
From there, the Falcons leveraged their trademark zone defence to hurry the Hawks into further errors, before emerging victors 62-45.
Melbourne University Lightning (MUL) celebrated skipper Maddy Stewart’s 150th VNL game in style, securing a 32-goal win over the plucky Demons.
While Casey defensive trio Shannon Freeman, Julia Smith and Georgia Vines fought hard all match, dominant displays from MUL’s Kelsie Rainbow, Mikaela Vaughan and milestone player Stewart ultimately proved too much for the Demons to handle.
On the win, Stewart noted “It was a good, competitive and physical game today, which was exactly what we were expecting from Casey. They’re always really dominant, rangy and great in the air and they took it up to us out there - it felt a lot closer than what the final scoreboard read.
“Over the past couple of weeks, we probably haven’t played up to our expectations, so we made sure to train well since we’ve been allowed back and to focus on our systems and structures, and we managed to execute what we wanted to today which was great… it was a real team game.”
And as for her extraordinary feat, Stewart asserted, “It definitely snuck up on me, I didn’t even realise it was coming! But yeah, I think I made my VNL debut in 2012 - a very long time ago now - and I came up through the 19s and Div 1 teams before landing in the Champ side, all at the one club.
“I’ve just been so lucky to have had so many amazing mentors throughout the years, I’ve played with amazing people and it’s been really special.
“My teammates did make a big deal about the 150 but it was just another game for me, it’s very exciting though and I’m proud to have played it.
“Now we’ll just continue to take each game at a time and we’ve got one goal in mind for the rest of the year so we’re going hard for these next three rounds and then finals and who knows what might happen from there!”
On Court 9, it was the third-placed Geelong Cougars who came away with the chocolates, defeating a gallant Blaze outfit to notch their eighth win of the season.
Though only 4 goals separated both sides at the end of the first term, Cougars defensive pair Brooke Allan and Tori Honner rose to the occasion, gaining tips and deflections galore to extend the margin to 9 at the long change and then 16 by the final whistle.
Another classy performance from Boroondara Express saw the visitors register a 17-goal victory over Monique Clark’s luckless Ariels.
Though Clark led from the back, putting her body on the line and working hard to cause turnovers, her efforts regrettably weren’t enough to halt Boroondara’s strong connection in attack.
Midcourt duo Taylah Brown and Casey Adamson were also on song for Express, in helping their side seize a 6-goal lead by quarter time, before running away with the margin.
DIVISION ONE
CITY WEST FALCONS 57 def HAWKS NETBALL 55
MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY LIGHTNING 50 def CASEY DEMONS NETBALL 35
NORTH EAST BLAZE 43 def by GEELONG COUGARS 47
ARIELS 46 def by BOROONDARA EXPRESS 59
It was a tight, fast-paced affair between the City West Falcons and Hawks, with the former side just getting over the line in the end, defeating the valiant visitors 57-55.
While Sarah Croft and Jessie Barnes-Hill starred for the Falcons, Hawks’ Caitlyn Alifraco held her own in the midcourt, providing damaging drives down the court and crafty feeds into her goalers.
In the end however, it was simply a case of accuracy at the post, in which the Falcons reigned supreme.
MUL Division One skipper Georgie Rodger was all smiles following her side’s 15-goal triumph over the Demons, though the victory didn’t come easy.
“It was obviously really nice to come away with the win,” said Rodger, “we’ve had a few tough weeks coming off the back of a couple of losses, so it was great to get back, get around each other and execute our game plan.
“But Casey are a strong side, we had a good tussle with them earlier in the season and they’ve got lots of strong bodies so we had to work hard to match it with them.
“Lately we’ve been working a lot on showing up for 60 minutes and taking things quarter by quarter, working on our resets and just executing the simple stuff, which I think we did tonight, so that was really pleasing.
“And [MUL teammate] Eliza Gollant down in goal keeper was unbelievable tonight, she just ran through with every ball! I don’t even know how many intercepts she got tonight… we couldn’t have done it without her efforts.”
North East Blaze’s undefeated streak has regrettably come to an end, as an in-form Geelong Cougars outfit wreaked havoc early to cement a 4-goal upset victory against the top-ranked side.
Though Blaze fought tooth and nail, Geelong’s lethal goaling combination of Georgina Cuthbertson and Aleisha McDonald proved unstoppable, as did Zara Walters’ tireless work rate in attack.
Both sides have now secured ten wins and just the one loss each, though the victorious Cougars still sit one spot below Blaze on the ladder due to percentage.
Sitting pretty in third place, Boroondara Express have recorded their third successive win, overpowering a courageous Ariels side by 13 goals.
While the Ariels took it up to the Express early, only trailing by 2 goals at quarter time, Boroondara showed their class and experience in remaining calm at the helm and converting at key moments to extend the margin to 14 goals by three quarter time.
Though Ariels livewire Charlotte Davies toiled until the end, her efforts regrettably weren’t enough as Chelsea Sartori’s squad finished strongly.
Ariels will now look to take advantage of their upcoming bye round to reset, while Boroondara are eyeing their tenth win of the season in their Round 12 clash against Casey Demons.
19&U
CITY WEST FALCONS 44 def HAWKS NETBALL 43
NORTH EAST BLAZE 44 def by GEELONG COUGARS 53
MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY LIGHTNING 60 def CASEY DEMONS NETBALL 36
ARIELS 63 def BOROONDARA EXPRESS 45
A massive fourth-quarter effort from City West Falcons saw the fifth-placed side pull off a thrilling 1-goal win against the second-placed Hawks, in what was the tightest margin of the round.
Though the Falcons trailed by 3 goals at three quarter time, clutch efforts from defenders Charli Nicol and Achel Yout gifted the side vital scoring opportunities in the dying minutes, which goalers Elisa Hall and Teal Hocking were able to capitalise upon.
Hawks will now look to redeem themselves in their Round 12 clash against Wilson Storage Southern Saints, while City West are set to face Geelong Cougars.
The Cougars are officially back on the winners’ list this week, after staving off a gutsy Blaze outfit by 9 goals.
Despite a sluggish start from the visitors which left them 8 goals down at quarter time, Geelong attacking duo Isabelle Grapsas and Eliza Cahill were instrumental in bringing their team back on track, leading some first-rate ball movement. Meanwhile for North East Blaze, defender Jacque De Lazzari shone.
It was the Lightning who came up trumps against Casey Demons on Court 11, posting a commanding 24-goal victory to seal the club’s clean sweep on the night.
Though Casey’s Luiza Sulemani dug deep early, MUL attackers Olivia Cawthray and Keeley Sherar spearheaded their side’s well-rounded, four quarter performance, which ultimately marked the home side’s sixth win of the season.
And lastly, after overcoming “a slow start” according to captain Emily Andrew, Ariels ultimately reigned supreme over Boroondara Express, 63-45.
“Our start wasn’t ideal today,” noted Andrew, “mainly because it’s been such a long break from netball but once we started getting into the swing of stuff, it all came together, our intensity lifted and we managed to bring it home.
“Coming into the match though, we knew we were going to be coming up against a strong Boroondara team. They have a super strong attacking end, their shooters are accurate and their connections in the circle are so good.”
Teammate Clara Choi agreed with Andrew, adding “Last time we played Boroondara, it was really close, so we came in with the mentality that it was going to be a tight match from the get-go and that we would have to step up. They’re a tough side to play against. But thankfully our connections and timing improved as the match went on and it felt really good to break our losing streak with a big win.”
Andrew continued, “Our bench really stepped up today too, even though we couldn’t have spectators in tonight they were just as loud as a real crowd so it was awesome to have that support.
“We’re just going to continue bringing that same intensity now over the next three rounds so that we can hopefully sneak into finals.”
