NWU NETBALL SAILING THROUGH TO THE FINALS

Cristine Struweg

@c_r_i_s_1_0

Varsity Cup Netball has flown by and the North-West University (NWU) has held their heads high throughout, booking themselves a spot in the final against the University of the Free State (UFS).

The team has had a strong campaign leading up to the playoffs, winning five out of their seven games and settling for third on the log. In the semi-finals, they played against the team in second place, the University of Johannesburg (UJ). A week beforehand, they had also faced the side from Johannesburg and managed to walk away with a win totalling to 50-42, giving UJ their first loss of the tournament.

Fast forward a week, and once again the NWU faced UJ at the NWU Mahikeng Great Hall for the first of two semi-finals. The NWU players went out guns blazing, even harder than the week before, and showed UJ that they weren’t there to bow down. They managed a comfortable win over the ladies in orange, winning 58-28.

The final team standing in the way of the Varsity Netball 2025 title is the defending champions, UFS. They have had an almost flawless season, winning six out of their seven games and only narrowly losing to UJ in the group stages. They topped the log and hosted the second semi-final against Maties. Their win wasn’t as convincing as NWU’s, but they managed a winning margin of 11 points against the maroon machine from Stellenbosch.

On Monday, 29 September, the ladies will take their final centre pass for the 2025 season at the Callie Human Hall in Bloemfontein. It will be a tough ask for NWU to overcome the defending champions on their homeground, especially after our big loss against them in the group stages that ended 53-89 in UFS’ favour. However, the NWU ladies have since improved and will certainly not go down without a fight as they chase their third Varsity Netball title.

Can the NWU Netball ladies soar high and overcome the odds? Tune in on Monday 29 September at 19h00 on SuperSport to find out.

Edited by Isabel Burgers