The semi-final stage has drawn near and we look how the participants shape up against each other.
Tuks vs Madibaz in Pretoria at 17:30
The teams only met once before in a semi-final, in 2016 which ended in a massive 87-22 win for Tuks.
Tuks: After losing their first two fixtures without a number of their first choice players, the Pretoria students won their remaining five group matches. Tuks are the only team to have advanced to each year’s semi-final. They won three and lost two of those matches. They have only lost once before in a semi-final that was played in Pretoria (against the Maties in 2015).
Madibaz: The Madibaz only lost one match, against Tuks by (39-67) in their seven group matches. It was the most number of victories by them in their competition history. It will be their third semi-final appearance, having lost twice before in 2013 and 2016.
Kovsies vs. Maties in Bloemfontein at 19:00
The Kovsies and Maties haven’t met in a semi-final before.
Kovsies: They have topped the log for the first time since 2015 and only lost once, against the Madibaz, by a single goal. It will only be the second time the Maties travel to Bloemfontein having last played there in 2013. The Kovsies have played in four semi-finals previously, winning two (2013 and 2014) and losing two (2015 and 2017).
Maties: The Maties won four out of their seven matches, but lost to all three the other semi-finalists. They have featured in four semi-finals before, only coming out on top once (in 2015). The Maties have not beaten the Kovsies outside of Bloemfontein.
Varsity Netball semi-final records:
Biggest win: 65 goals (Tuks 87-22 Madibaz, 2016)
Smallest winning margin: 4 goals (NWU 46-42 NWU, 2013)
Most goals scored in match: 117 (Tuks 73-43 Maties, 2017)
Most goals scored by a team: 87 (Tuks 87-22 Madibaz, 2016)
Least goals scored in match: 88 (NWU 46-42 Tuks, 2013)
Least goals scored by a team: 22 (Tuks 87-22 Madibaz, 2016)
