VNL Round One Results
Championship
Ariels 46 def 41 ACU Sovereigns
Geelong Cougars 63 def 56 City West Falcons
DC North East Blaze 46 def by 60 Melbourne University Lightning
Boroondara Express 37 def 32 Wilson Storage Southern Saints
Peninsula Waves 43 def by 58 Hawks Netball
Division One
DC North East Blaze 64 def 47 Melbourne University Lightning
Boroondara Express 42 def by 54 Wilson Storage Southern Saints
Peninsula Waves 41 def by 48 Hawks Netball
Ariels 47 def by 59 ACU Sovereigns
Geelong Cougars 59 def 53 City West Falcons
19/Under
Peninsula Waves 40 def 33 Hawks Netball
Ariels 47 def 43 ACU Sovereigns
Geelong Cougars 56 def 50 City West Falcons
DC North East Blaze 64 def 31 Melbourne University Lightning
Boroondara Express 56 def 50 Wilson Storage Southern Saints
Round one of the Bupa Victorian Netball League (VNL) got off to a cracking start with all ten competing teams travelling to the State Netball and Hockey Centre to face off last Sunday.
19/Under premiers Geelong Cougars continued their winning streak from the 2017 season. After trailing for the first three quarters of the game, the Cougars came out on top over the City West Falcons with a 56-50 win.
19/Under Falcons coach, Josh Smith, maintains that their young team shows great promise.
The strong results advanced to the Division One (59-53) and Championship (63-56) games for the Geelong Cougars. After taking out all three divisions, the Cougars walk away from round one as the only club undefeated in each division.
The Melbourne University Lightning secured their first win of the season in the Championship grade. The Lightning tore away from DC North East Blaze to end the game 14 goals ahead (60-46).
In Division One, the Blaze flaunted their grand final experience over the Lightning. While scores were level at half time, the Blaze brought an intensity to the court that the Lightning could not match. Starting the round off with a strong win (64-47), their 19/Under team followed suit with a 64-31 win over Lightning.
The Ariels and Sovereigns had very close battles across three grades. The Championship (46-41) and 19/Under (47-43) games each saw two evenly matched teams, with the Ariels just pulling away from their Ballarat competitors in both divisions.
In Division One, the Sovereigns took out a 59-47 win against the Ariels, placing themselves in a great position for round two.
The close games continued as the Boroondara Express and Wilson Storage Southern Saints faced off. The Express obtained a five and six goal win in their Championship (37-32) and 19/Under grades (56-50). Meanwhile, the Southern Saints’ Division One side captured a more convincing 54-42 win over the Boroondara players.
Finally, the Hawks Netball Club made their Bupa VNL debut on Sunday after being affiliated with Hawthorn Football Club earlier this year. The talented mid-courters Monique Tarrant and Tayla Kearns fed the ball through to the goal circle to secure a 58-43 win against the Peninsula Waves in the Championship grade.
Hawks’ Division One team followed suit with a 41-48 win over the Waves. Meanwhile, the Peninsula Waves proved too strong for the Hawks in the 19/Under match. The youth team triumphed with a seven goal margin (40-33).
Round two of the Bupa VNL will take place at 7pm this Wednesday, May 2nd at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.