The last day of round-robin action in the 2022 Varsity Netball tournament (Monday 3 October), is shaping up to be one for the books.
At 17:00, all eyes will be on the Callie Human Hall in Bloemfontein when two-time champions Tuks and UJ square off. The winning team will find themselves in next week’s semi-final.
Should Tuks lose, it will be the first time in the tournament’s history they don’t make it to the final four. Should Bongi Msomi’s Orange Army win, it will be the first time in the tournament’s history they find themselves in the semi-finals.
These permutations are possibilities after NWU won a close match against Tuks today. There were also victories for Maties over the Madibaz, Kovsies over TUT and UJ over UWC.
Maties outscore Madibaz to secure semi-final spot
Sitting comfortably at the top of the 2022 Varsity Netball log, Maties went into their sixth-round match against the Madibaz full of confidence knowing they’ve already booked their place in next Monday’s (10 October) semi-finals. They rubber-stamped this with a 63-47 victory.
The Maroon Machine came flying out of the gates, with shooters Sian Moore and Chrisley Marshall finding the net without too much effort. The Madibaz didn’t have too much breathing space and resorted to short, low passes to retain possession.
The match started heating up after half-time with Maties taking the ball wide and creating additional angles to feed into the goal circle. Madibaz coach Lana Krige moved her players around on the court and used her bench well, but to no avail, as Maties outscored their opponents comfortably in the end.
Quarter scores: 17-8| 35-21 | 52-31 | 63-47
Match stats: Goal Percentage – Maties 84% Madibaz 72%| Intercepts – Maties 0 Madibaz 8 | Penalties – Maties 70 Madibaz 35
Player of the match: Nichole Taljaard (Maties)
Determined NWU edge out Tuks in a close battle
The 2022 Varsity Netball tussle between NWU and Tuks lived up to expectations as both former champions had everything to play for. A victory for NWU would see them through to next weekend’s semi-finals while a Tuks win would see the Pretoria team live to fight another day. And this is exactly what Jenny van Dyk’s charges will have to do after the Eagles beat them 68-59.
It was clear from the first whistle that both teams had their eyes on just one thing – a victory. The intensity from the NWU and Tuks players was extremely high and as expected, the goal difference in the first two quarters never varied by more than a couple of goals. It was all square at half-time.
NWU made the most of their opportunities in the all-important third quarter and showed why these 15 minutes are aptly described as the championship quarter. The team from Potchefstroom started edging ahead ever so slightly and in the last 15 minutes took it away from Tuks, who lost out on a vital bonus point for losing by less than 7 goals.
Kekeletso Molotsi (NWU): “I feel the pressure is off us now for getting into the semis, we knew we had to win one of the two games this weekend. We feel confident for tomorrow, but it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be another team effort.”
Quarter scores: 16-14| 29-29 | 47-43 | 68-59
Match stats: Goal Percentage – NWU 82% Tuks 83%| Intercepts – NWU 12 Tuks 8 | Penalties – NWU 42 Tuks 42
Player of the match: Kekeletso Molotsi (NWU)
Kovsies kick into high gear with a drubbing of TUT
After a slow start to the defence of their title in the 2022 Varsity Netball competition, Kovsies sounded an ominous warning to their rivals with an 81-21 whitewash of TUT in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. This was TUT’s sixth consecutive defeat.
TUT looked completely bedazzled as the Kovsies defence put a damper on their passing efforts. The team from Pretoria simply had no answer as the defending champions continued to dominate throughout the first half of the match.
In the third quarter, it was more of the same and then some as the Kovsies shooters landed 33 goals, the most scored in any 15-minute passage of play this year. They took the foot off the gas in the last quarter, having done enough to make a victory lap in the Callie Human Hall.
Sikholiwe Mdletshe (Kovsies): “This was a great confidence booster for us as a team, going into tomorrow and the rest of the tournament. We wanted to go in today and achieve the goals we set as a team.”
Quarter scores: 18-6 | 34-10 | 67-18 | 81-21
Match stats: Goal Percentage – Kovsies 84% TUT 62%| Intercepts – Kovsies 21 TUT 5 | Penalties – Kovsies 66 TUT 27
Player of the match: Sikholiwe Mdletshe (Kovsies)
UJ is in contention for play-offs after beating UWC
UJ have given themselves the best possible chance of qualifying for the semi-finals when they scored a runaway 74-24 victory over UWC in the last match of round 6 of the 2022 Varsity Netball tournament.
The Orange Army never looked in any trouble against a hapless UWC. The unforced errors from the Cape Town-based team were in stark contrast to the lightness of UJ. The half-time scoreboard told the whole story, with Bongi Msomi’s team being 32 points clear of their opponents.
UWC had their moments and managed to get a few extra goals in the last two-quarters of the match. But by that time it was a case of too little, too late, leaving UJ with the prospect of a mouthwatering match-up against Tuks tomorrow.
Cornelia Mupenda (UJ): “Tonight I was just doing my job and everyone stuck to the game plan.”
Quarter scores: 21-5 | 40-8 | 55-16 | 74-24
Match stats: Goal Percentage – UJ 86% UWC 80%| Intercepts – UJ 20 UWC 9 | Penalties – UJ 47 UWC 54
Player of the match: Cornelia Mupenda (UJ)
VARSITY NETBALL LOG
ROUND 7 – 3 OCTOBER – CALLIE HUMAN HALL, UFS, BLOEMFONTEIN
13:00 – Madibaz vs TUT
15:00 – UWC vs Maties
17:00 – Tuks vs UJ
19:00 – Kovsies vs NWU
*All games are broadcast live on SuperSport.
By Jurgen Smith
