Kovsies and Tuks bounced back from opening day defeats to claim Round 2 victories at the Coetzenburg Indoor Centre, while NWU and Maties remained unbeaten.
Kovsies and Tuks bounced back from opening day Varsity Netball defeats to claim Round 2 victories at the Coetzenburg Indoor Centre, while NWU and Maties remained unbeaten.
Three-time champions Kovsies had to work hard to grind out a 60-54 victory over UJ. The Johannesburg-based team nearly caused a major upset when they wiped out a seven-point deficit after the first quarter to draw level at 22-22 at half-time. But the Free State students regained their composure in the third quarter to regain the lead (41-36).
It was the battle of the Proteas alumni with former national team coach Burta de Kock holding the reigns at Kovsies and current SA captain Bongi Msomi in charge at UJ. Both made strategic moves at crucial points in the match to try outwit and outplay their opponents.
De Kock used Kovsies’ Power Play with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter and her team leading by five. But it was UJ who came out on top as they successfully closed the gap, and even briefly held the lead at 31-30, before the two-minute period ended with the score at 32-31 in favour of Kovsies.
Msomi left UJ’s Power Play for the last six minutes of the match and her team trailing by six. They added six points from the three goals scored, while Kovsies added four from two.
De Kock was without the services of experienced defender Chanel Vrey, who was injured in Saturday’s defeat against Maties and will take no further part in the tournament. But Jana Scholtz stepped up and made her presence felt as goal defence. Her tremendous work rate was rewarded with the FNB Player of the Match award.
Muhluri Hlatshwayo had a good, solid game for UJ as goal shooter. Her shooting accuracy of more than 90% kept her team within touching distance of beating opponents they previously lost against by 30-plus goals.
In the end, it was Kovsies’ experience that secured them the victory. They remained calm during that all-important third quarter and soaked up the pressure. Despite getting two bonus points for scoring more than 50 points and losing by seven or fewer points, UJ will rue the silly mistakes like stepping and offside that cost them dearly. They also didn’t take full advantage of their opportunities to secure a shock victory over their much-fancied opponents.
Although De Kock was happy that her team had a win under their belt, she wasn’t totally satisfied with their performance. She said the players still need to work on their consistency and capitalise on every ball in hand.
Earlier in the day, NWU followed up their win over defending champions Tuks with a runaway 82-33 victory against UWC.
They had their opponents on the back foot from the start, forcing them into poor ball placement and turning balls in the goal circle. NWU stretched their 25-10 lead after the first quarter into 45-16 at half-time, and hammered home their advantage after the third quarter (60-26).
Following Tuks’ first defeat in the competition since 2018 and the Madibaz’s opening-round win against UWC, there were great expectations for the teams’ Round 2 clash. But Tuks got their groove back and claimed a convincing 72-37 win.
Tuks pounced on loose balls in the centre court and converted them into points to build up a comfortable 23-7 lead after the first quarter. The Madibaz staged somewhat of a comeback in the second quarter, scoring 14 goals against Tuks’ 15, but still trailed 38-21. Tuks then turned the screws in the third quarter to lead 59-31 going into the last 15 minutes.
In the final match on Sunday, Maties beat TUT 56-28. The tournament hosts never looked in trouble, asserting their dominance from the start.
They stretched their 15-6 lead after the first quarter to 36-9 after the second and 52-17 after the third. TUT did outscore Maties in the last quarter and restricted them to only four goals, but unfortunately lacked the consistency to be truly competitive.
Round 2 results:
NWU 82 UWC 33
FNB Player of the Match: Jessica du Plessis (NWU)
Tuks 72 Madibaz 37
FNB Player of the Match: Chantelle Swart (Tuks)
Kovsies 60 UJ 54
FNB Player of the Match: Jana Scholtz (Kovsies)
Maties 56 TUT 28
FNB Player of the Match: Adri Uys (Maties)
Round 3 fixtures (Monday, 23 August):
UWC vs UJ (13:00)
Maties vs NWU (15:00)
Tuks vs TUT (17:00)
Kovsies vs Madibaz (19:00)
– All matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport Variety 4 (DStv channel 209)
By Liryn de Jager
Photo: Kevin Sawyer/Varsity Sports
