IT is a case of history repeating itself tonight in the Victorian Netball League, as Round 15 emulates every matchup from Round 10 back in early May.

The first match up tonight could have a lot of bearing on how the finals might shape up.

The Boroondara Express have been toppled from their thrown at the top of the ladder, but face a Melbourne Uni side that is not only in need of a win to maintain their buffer from the rest of the chasing pack, but also a percentage boost to jump ahead of the fourth placed Hawks.

What makes tonight’s clash even more interesting is that when these two sides first met this season, the match resulted in a five-goal win to the Lightning.

Some of the Melbourne Vixens’ training partners will no doubt play a pivotal role in this clash. The Expresses’ Ruby Barkmeyer will have to deal with both her fellow training partners in Gabby Coffey and Maggie Caris if she is to succeed for her team.

Speaking of the Hawks, they also need to have a big win tonight to not add extra pressure on themselves moving forward into the twilight rounds of the season.

However they play the Strikers, who they only beat by six goals last time around.

The Strikers for their part could also massively benefit from a win tonight with where they are sitting on the ladder, but on the other hand a loss does not mean total panic stations just yet.

This clash will see the battle of the goal shooters, with Amelia Brock and Kaylia Stanton such key components to the success of their respective sides.

Someone in a similar situation to the Strikers is the Southern Saints, who face the Falcons tonight.

The Saints sit level with the Strikers on number of wins, but the Strikers have a game in hand over them.

However, this was probably not the ideal week for them to be playing the Falcons, who have just moved to the top of the table and are in some really good form at the moment.

The Falcons’ shooters are well renowned for a reason, with Jane Cook and Uneeq Palavi one of the toughest shooting combinations to come up against in the competition. It will be up to Anna Donnelly and Jessie Grenvold this week to try and keep the dominant pair quiet.

Some one else that needs a percentage boost this week is the North East Blaze. They may be a win ahead of those chasing them on the ladder, but with the lowest percentage in the top four they cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

They play Casey this week, who actually beat them last time out, and would love nothing more than a win this week to get them further away from the bottom of the ladder.

Emma Ryde starred for the Dees the last time these sides met, but this time around it may fall to Kaitlyn Black’s shoulders to stop her influence.

The final game tonight may perhaps be the most one-sided of the lot.

Last time Geelong and Peninsula met it was a 26-goal win to the Cougars, and with things having not changed too much since then, things could be the same again tonight.

One thing the Waves have really struggled with this season is their shooting volumes, so the pressure is on Kassidy Withers and April Bethune to really lift their workload this week, to match it with the likes of Daisy O’Kane, who has really lifted this season after the departure of key people before 2024.

VNL Round 15 Fixture

Boroondara Express vs Melbourne Uni Lightning
Bendigo Strikers vs Hawks Netball
City West Falcons vs Southern Saints
North East Blaze vs Casey Demons
Peninsula Waves vs Geelong Cougars

BYE – Western Warriors