The VNSL reached the half-way mark this weekend, with Round 10 taking place.
Two of the five games were postponed due to COVID, but the three games that did take place had everyone hooked!
Here is how some of the international stars performed:
Leeds Rhinos 44 – 58 London Pulse
London Pulse recorded their 7th win of the season, this time against Leeds Rhinos. The 14-goal victory can be put down to a dominant start from Pulse that saw them end the first quarter 16-9, and sensational shooting from England Rose Olivia Tchine throughout which saw her receive another Most Valuable Player Award as she converted 32 of her 35 shots on goal. Tachine now sits 3rd in the Top Goal Scorers chart for the league, having scored 369 goals this season, whilst Pulse now also sit third in the league.
Loughborough Lightning 61 – 66 Manchester Thunder
The only two sides higher than Pulse in the league are Loughborough Lightning and Manchester Thunder. Going into the weekend, both sides were unbeaten but as they took each other on for the first time this season it was Thunder that came out on top and cemented their spot at the top of the table. In defence for the winning side, South Africa SPAR Protea Shadine Van Der Merwe made her presence known alongside Kerry Almond, the duo dominated in the defensive circle making four turnovers and seven deflections between them, which proved to be important in such a closely contested match. At the other end of the court, Thunder shooters Eleanor Cardwell (England Rose) and Joyce Mvula (Malawi) stuck to task like they have all season, with Cardwell scoring 32 and Mvula 28. The stats keep both shooters in the top five of the Top Goal Scorers chart for 2022, with Mvula at 4th and Cardwell at 5th.
Celtic Dragons 53 – 54 Surrey Storm
The final match of the round was between Celtic Dragons and Surrey Storm. Dragons have had a tough start to the season, only winning one of their previous eight games, whilst Storm sat midtable ahead of the fixture having won their last two matches. Nevertheless, it was an extremely close fixture with no more than two goals ever separating the sides at a quarter-time break. The final score was no different, with Storm taking the win by one goal, after being down by two at the end of the penultimate quarter. Despite being on the losing side South Africa SPAR Protea, Lefébre Rademan, was named Player of the Match for her performance in the shooting circle.
The next round of the VNSL will begin on the 2nd April, and all future fixtures and past results can be found here.
To find out more about leagues taking place in other World Netball Regions this season, visit our Domestic League page here.
