The UP-Tuks netball team possible played one their best games ever on Monday night to beat Maties by 74-43. In doing so, they qualified for the third time in five years to play in the Varsity-final.

And what a final it is going to be. Northwest-Pukke beat Kovsies 53-37  in the other semifinal to claim their spot. They are the defending Varsity champions after defeating UP-Tuks by one goal in last year's final.

Northwest-Pukke is the only unbeaten team this year in the competition while UP-Tuks only lost once and that was against the team of Potchefstroom and that was just by six goals.

UP-Tuks scored so far in eight games 503 goals and conceded 283 while Northwest-Pukke scored 459 and conceded 250.

The final is on Monday night at the UP-Tuks Rembrandt Hall.

The way UP-Tuks outplayed Maties was somewhat of a surprise. Apart from the first quarter which ended with only a one-goal difference, it was one-way traffic for the rest of the game. 

Jenny van Dyk (UP-Tuks head coach) ascribed her team's dominance to the fact that they were better prepared. 

"In the first Varsity encounter Maties caught us off-guard with their fast tempo of play. That led to us being under pressure for the whole match, scraping through by just two goals to take the victory.

"As we knew what to expect we could prepare how to neutralise Maties on their strong points. Shadine van der Merwe (captain) had a key role to play. As goal defence I wanted her to put Nicola Taljaard (goal attack) under pressure right from the start of the game. Shadine executed the plan to such an extent that Nicola had no idea as what to do the longer the game went on."

Van der Merwe has certainly been outstanding throughout the tournament. She managed to finetune disrupting any opposition attack to an art. At times it seems as if she knew what the opposition planned on doing even before they decided to do so. 

Jasmine Ziegelmeier (goalkeeper) certainly played her part in frustrating Maties in the circle. 

"Jasmine is playing with more confidence every game. With her physical approach, she has a way 'to get into the head' of the opposition goalscorer making them doubt their abilities," said King.

Ine-Mari Venter (goal scorer) and Rumandi Potgieter (goal attack) were both relentless in the way they sunk the one goal after another. Their accuracy led to Venter receiving the player of the match award and Potgieter the best shot award. 

UP-Tuks and Maties set a new Varsity record on Monday night by scoring 117 goals. The previous record for most goals in a semifinal was 114. Ironically it was when the same two teams clashed in 2014. 

The big question is whether it will be the third time lucky for UP-Tuks on Monday night. If they do win Jenny van Dyk will as the coach also make local netball history. It will be the first time that the same coach wins the Brutal Fruit-series, the Senior Provincial Championships and the Varsity-series in the same year. 

Van Dyk is however not too fazed about such trivia.

"Records come and go. All that matters to me is to win the Varsity-final. It is not going to be easy. Northwest-Pukke is arguably one of the best-coached teams in the competition which means there is never such a thing as an easy game when you play against them. But this I can guarantee we will be better prepared as we know now what to expect."