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26 August 2021
UWC to contest minor Varsity Netball 2021 placings
UWC’s Varsity Netball campaign continued in the vein it had started on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving the team out of the running for the semi-final places.

MATIES CLAIM CAPE DERBY
Tuesday’s Round 4 fixture was a Cape Derby against tournament hosts Maties, who have emerged as the early tournament favourites.

Maties convincingly beat UWC 64-32 with the 2015 and 2019 finalists asserting their dominance from the first whistle. They kept the pressure on UDubs, turning the ball in mid-court and back towards their own goal circle where captain Sian Moore kept the scoreboard ticking over.

Instead of coming out from behind the Maties’ defenders and sticking to short, sharp passes, UWC tried to move downcourt with long overhead passes. This was to no avail, with Maties keeping the lead after each quarter – 19-4 (first), 30-14 (second) and 47-24 (third).

KOVSIES GIVE UDUBS RUNAROUND
It wasn’t to get any easier for coach Danlee Mathews’ weary squad on Wednesday against Kovsies, the three-time tournament winners.

Duly, Kovsies defeated them 91-29. It is the sixth time the Free State students have passed the 90-point mark since the inception of Varsity Netball in 2013.

The Free Staters played with total freedom and enough time to execute their game plan, comfortably leading after each quarter – 25-7 (first), 50-13 (second) and 69-23 (third). UWC, in comparison, were completely flat, and their frustration caused the umpires to issue several cautions and warnings for persistent fouls.

TIME TO REGROUP
Ultimately, UWC remain winless in this year’s tournament and with a 194 negative points difference but at least Thursday is a rest day after five straight days of action at Stellenbosch University’s Coetzenburg Centre.

Come Friday (19:00, live on SuperSport), UWC will have arguably their best chance of picking up a win in this year’s tournament when they face TUT, who are also winless at this stage. Saturday’s clash against Tuks (11:00, live on SuperSport) will then concludes the round-robin stage before the playoffs for final standings over the remaining two days of the tournament.
 

UWC’S VARSITY NETBALL 2021 RESULTS TO DATE

Round 1: UWC 41 Madibaz 54
Round 2: UWC 33 NWU 82
Round 3: UWC 30 UJ 68
Round 4: Maties 64 UWC 32
Round 5: UWC 29 Kovsies 91

Images and match summaries courtesy ASEM Engage/Varsity Sports.