The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Kovsies netball team commenced with the 2024 Varsity Netball tournament winning their first two matches.
On Sunday, 1 September, Kovsies won in an exhilarating fashion by beating the team of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) by 78 – 33.
The first bumper weekend of this tournament took place at the Wits Sports Hall in Johannesburg on 1 and 2 September.
An experienced Kovsies team took on a young Wits side in the opener, and comfortably came out on top. The game saw Kovsies off to a flying start, converting opportunities well.
Rolene Streutker hardly put a foot wrong under the hoop, bagging goals at will for Kovsies. This led to Wits with a lot to think about at the break as the team trailed by 14 – 43.
Wits looked more balanced defensively in the third quarter, but Kovsies still held a comfortable 60 – 24 lead when the quarter came to a close.
The final quarter entailed a fantastic display from both teams, but the discipline shown by Kovsies was phenomenal, closing the game off with a comfortable 78 – 33 victory.
The real difference between the two sides was experience, with Kovsies possessing four national team players, while Wits continue to develop its young team under Dr Elsje Jordaan.?
Streutker of Kovsies was named the player of the match.
In the second round on Monday, 2 September, the UFS Kovsies edged past North-West University (NWU) in a thrilling battle between the netball powerhouses.
The match was made interesting when NWU took their power play in the dying minutes of the game and came within 5 goals of Kovsies.
In the end, however, the women from the Free State were able to see out a 62 – 54 win, despite the late fightback from NWU.?
Karla Victor was named the player of the match.
After the two matches the UFS Kovsies team now has 8 points, along with the University of Pretoria (Tuks) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
The Kovsies’ next match is against UJ on Sunday, starting at 17:00.
