The University of Cape Town (UCT) were agonisingly close to causing a semi-final upset against a dominant Tuks, who trailed in the opening exchanges before Margrit Springer and Thumo Neluvhalani pulled it back to 7–7 after four minutes.

Tuks’ regular starting pair looked unusually flustered as UCT’s Michelle Barboure and Hannah Fox made them move around the court more than in any previous game of the 2016 tournament.

It remained a tight affair at 11–11 with three and a half minutes left before half-time. UCT soon led and Tuks decided to take their time-out with three minutes to go and the scores at 14–11. The UCT pair kept their foot on the throat of Tuks, entering half-time ahead at 21–14.

Whatever the Tuks management said to their players during half-time worked. Tuks walked out onto the court a changed team. Jaime-Lee Wentzel substituted for Neluvhalani.

A brilliant save and lob by Wentzel pulled it back to 21–18 and before UCT could score another point, the score was tied at 21–21. This forced UCT to take their time-out. The rest of the match was a dead-even contest as the lead changed hands every few points. It was 24–24 with six minutes to play.

The wind was picking up and UCT made the most of it, pulling ahead again to 27–25, but Tuks clawed back ahead to 28–27, with four minutes remaining.

Michelle Barboure made a crucial error, mishitting the ball when UCT trailed 31–33, and it cost them dearly. The match ended with a score of 35–33 to Tuks, qualifying them to play in the final against UWC.