Varsity Netball has passed the halfway stage with the Madibaz, UP-Tuks, Kovsies and Maties chasing NWU at the top of the log with five wins from five attempts.
Here are five facts from round four and five:
Controversy follows Maties
As was the case two years ago, a result involving the Maties was disputed again, afterwards. On Sunday they and Tuks played to a 48-all draw, but Tuks appealed the final score and after a review it was found the scorer mistakenly added an extra two points to the Maties tally. The confirmed final score was 48-46 to Tuks. In 2015 a match between the Maties and NWU was disrupted following a power failure. NWU was leading by two goals when the game was called off. Later it was announced a draw and eventually the game was replayed.
Erasmus bags number seven
Zandré Erasmus, defender of NWU, took the lead again as the player who has received the most FNB Player of the Match awards in the five years of the competition. Before she earned her seventh cheque against the University of the Western Cape on Sunday, she and Shadine van der Merwe of Tuks shared the record with six awards each.
Unfortunate trend continues for VUT
With the Vaal University of Technology losing both their matches against the UWC and Kovsies, they have now lost 15 straight matches since 2015.
Venter gets to sweat on court
After warming the bench for five and a half matches, Ine-Marí Venter eventually had the opportunity to get rid of the splinters she could have gained in the last couple of weeks. The goal shooter didn’t receive any game-time in the five Tests with the Proteas overseas.
She played her first match in Varsity Netball 2017 when she took to the court at the start of the third quarter against the University of Johannesburg on Monday.
Yet another close contest for NWU and Maties
On Monday NWU achieved the second one-goal victory in their last six Varsity Netball matches when they defeated the Maties by 37-36. These two teams often seem to be involved in such clashes. In the five encounters since 2013 where the score difference was one or less, NWU was involved three times and the Maties twice.
