ROUND 8 of the Victorian Netball League (VNL) saw all the teams play at the State Netball and Hockey Centre, with the City West Falcons continuing their winning streak. The Geelong Cougars and Hawks Netball both claimed big wins against their opponents extending the margin between the top four and the bottom teams.

Melbourne University Lightning (46) defeated by City West Falcons (65)

The City West Falcons made it eight from eight and sit pretty at the top of the ladder after a convincing performance against the Lightning who struggled to maintain their pressure across the four quarters. The first term was close with the Lightning holding a one goal lead over the Falcons, before City West kicked it up a gear in the second term piling on 18 to seven. Their slick ball movement, quick feet and clever movement allowed them to exploit the Lightning defence with the likes of Tharjini Sivalingam and Tahnysha Salanoa finding the goals with ease as the game went on. Sivalingam finished with a whopping 54 goals from 61 attempts at 89 per cent accuracy, while Salanoa showcased her dominance with 100 per cent accuracy. Molly Jovic and Maggie Lind were important through the midcourt for the Falcons creating good space and feeding the ball cleverly into the goalers. Collingwood Magpies shooter Gabby Sinclair made her presence felt in her first game for the season doing a wealth of work across the court for the Lightning. The goal attack found good space in the goal circle with her clever movement and slick shooting with 15 from 20. She combined well with Mikaela Vaughan (23/31) and Ella Bertacchini (8/11) but it was not enough to get her side over the line.

Peninsula Waves (32) defeated by Geelong Cougars (58)

From the first whistle the Geelong Cougars came to play executing their game plan with clever movement down the court, strong defensive pressure and quick transition. Credit to the work of the Cougars midcourt they were able to feed the ball effortlessly into Ruby Horton and Bridgette Furphy who were prolific under the post. Horton top scored for the game converting 44 goals from her 53 attempts at 84 per cent. At half time the Cougars were up by 14 goals and slowly extended that lead as the game went on with Waves defenders Tara Cecil and Mardi Cunningham unable to influence the attacking prowess of Geelong. Defensively for the Cougars Jessica Standfield and Victoria Honner were kept on their toes credit to the clever movement and interplay between Waves goalers Madeline Morrison and Gabrielle Dwyer. Peninsula struggled under the post unable to find the net with ease sitting at 63 percent shooting accuracy compared to the Cougars 82 per cent. Overall the Cougars proved to be too strong for the Waves capitalising on any turnover ball and seamlessly transitioning down the court thanks to their precision passing, impressive timing and good body position to win the ball back.

Hawks Netball (31) defeated by Southern Saints (60)

Suffering big loss to the Southern Saints the Hawks lost their fifth spot and were comprehensively beaten across the court. It was a low scoring affair in the first term with the Saints only registering six goals with the Hawks holding a three goal lead at quarter time. But that quickly changed with the Saints upping the ante in the second quarter to pile on 20 goals. Ella Quinlan sparked the attacking end with her accuracy to post nailing 13 from 15 in the second quarter. She finished the game with 25 goals from 30 attempts while the rotations through the goal circle did not seem to disrupt the Saints with Chloe Wilson, Samantha Silvester and Sinead Lumsden all posing a threat under the post. Hawks player and current Under 19s Hawks assistant coach, Clare Pettyfor celebrated her 100th game with the club but did not get the result she would have wanted. As the game went on the Hawks looked less composed and uncertain with ball in hand throwing away loose passes and clogging up space. Shae Gee worked tirelessly in attack with 21 goals from 26 attempts while defenders Clare Johnson and Shannon Rennison applied plenty of pressure to try and win the ball back for the Hawks.

Ariels (51) defeated by North-East Blaze (68)

With 14 goals apiece at quarter time the North-East Blaze broke away in the second term really putting their foot down to claim their seventh win of the season. The intensity lifted from the Blaze keeping the Ariels to just six goals in the second quarter while they added 16 to their total, taking an 11 goal lead into half time. But the pain did not stop there for the Ariels with North-East able to work their way through the defensive pressure and release pin-point passes to get the ball to the circle edge and create plenty of scoring opportunities. The last quarter saw North-East dominate under the post with the likes of Elizabeth Nicol, Sarah Hogan and Abbey Ellis showing off their range. Nicol led the way in attack with her accuracy and sheer volume to post converting 47 goals from her 52 attempts at 91 per cent while Hogan made the most of her opportunities to post with 13 from 14. They went on a six-goal streak credit to the defensive pressure applied by Elle McDonald and Tayissa Coppinger who caused turnovers to supply their attackers with plenty of ball. The Ariels toyed around with their shooting circle with Beth Wilson, Stacey Gannon and Alex Maher all getting court time but struggled to convert sitting at a combined 79 percent accuracy.

Casey Demons (79) defeated Boroondara Express (59)

The Casey Demons put on a shooting masterclass scoring a whopping 41 goals in the first half with their accuracy and strong connections down court on display. They looked unstoppable with ball in hand applying good defensive pressure and showcasing their attacking flair to drive to the top of the circle. Emma Ryde did a wealth of work and highlighted her dominance under the post putting shot, after shot up finishing with a staggering 65 goals from 70 attempts at 93 per cent. Her partnership with former Australian Diamond, Erin Bell was on display with Bell feeding the ball well into her and putting up her fair share of shots scoring 14 from 17 at 83 per cent. The work of Shannon Blackman and Ashley Morrison out the front was equally impressive with both midcourters using their dynamic footwork to get into damaging feeding positions. Defensively Karli Foster and Taya Rawson starved their opposition for scoring opportunities credit to their hands over pressure and intent to win the ball. Clare Vearing proved to be the key target in attack for Express registering 47 goals from 57 attempts. She was ably assisted by goal attack Anastasia Hamill who nailed seven from eight but it was not enough to get Boroondara over the line. They struggled in the back end with Caitlyn Degaris and Jade Forbes-Wattley unable to stop the frequency and ease of the Demons scoring.