The SPAR NMMU Madibaz netball team continued their positive run in the third round of their 2015 Varsity Netball campaign by beating the Vaal University of Technology 70–29 at the NMMU Indoor Sports Centre on Monday.
The Port Elizabeth side hold onto their third place spot in the overall standings after their second consecutive victory in this year’s competition.
Madibaz head coach and former SPAR Proteas player Dumisani Chauke said the hard work and dedication the girls had been putting in had shown in their performance.
“Staying focused and maintaining a high work rate for 60 minutes is not to be taken for granted and the girls managed to do that on Monday.”
VUT were the acknowledged underdogs going into the match as they reside in the lower half of the University Sport South Africa league, while the Madibaz are in the top six, or Super League, in that competition.
Chauke said that playing against a team from a lower division could sometimes be a trap as players could get carried away in thinking it was going to be easy.
“But the Madibaz girls maintained a high standard of netball against VUT on Monday.”
While the home side’s Eloise Webb walked away with the player of the match award, Chauke said netball was a team sport and that individual achievement was not possible without the support of the other players.
“Our shooters shot well, our defenders turned ball after ball so it’s hard for me to single out one player. Everyone played as a unit and complemented one another.”
She said that local support always boosted the team’s performance when playing on their home court.
“We would love to see all the netball fanatics in Port Elizabeth come out to support us when we play against Tuks at the end of the month. It is going to be a great game and the girls are ready for the challenge.”
Although it had been a strong start to the tournament for the Madibaz, Chauke said the team could not get ahead of themselves, especially this early in the tournament.
“We have been ticking a few boxes but for now we need to focus on the basics and take each game as it comes, one quarter at a time.”
She said this included sticking to their game plan and playing disciplined netball.
“We cannot make too many changes at this point in the competition. However, there are a few things that we are still working on and wanting to improve.”
Chauke said the Madibaz were expecting positive results from the coming weekend’s double-header, which takes place at Rembrandt Hall at the University of Pretoria.
The PE side will take on Kovsies, who are currently second on the log, on Sunday afternoon. This will be followed by a clash with the University of Johannesburg on Monday evening.
Alan Straton
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