ROUND 11 sees the Vitality Netball Superleague move past the halfway point of the season, and with it another exciting round that will see all of Round 2’s matchups play for a second time. There could be some big changes to the standings this week that could shake up the competition, while the game to watch is the battle for top spot between Manchester Thunder and Wasps Netball.

Friday night’s match between Team Bath and Strathclyde Sirens will open Round 11 at 7:30pm, with Bath hosting at Team Bath Arena. Last time they met saw Bath take home the points with a ten goal win while missing their England Roses pair, Serena Guthrie and Eboni Usoro-Brown, so they will want to back up their Round 2 victory with another one this week to make it a four match winning streak. Bath had a difficult match against the Celtic Dragons last round, so the ninth ranked Sirens will want to replicate the Dragons’ efforts to try and beat Bath and move up the ladder. They were without experienced New Zealand goal shooter, Cat Tuivaiti last week, so will hope that Tuivaiti is set to jump back on court to help lead the team against the highly placed Bath, itching to break back into the top four. However, Bath’s defense clicked into gear with the reintroduction of Guthrie to the midcourt last week after time out of the side from injury, so the Sirens attack will have to be at its best to break through Bath’s dominant full court defensive structure.

The first of three Saturday matches will see Manchester Thunder take on Wasps Netball for the second time in as many weeks, this time hosting in front of an excitable home crowd at Belle Vue at 5pm. Thunder are sitting on three wins in a row, including a replacement Round 2 match that saw them be the first team to beat the Wasps this season, while the Wasps’ strong efforts have proved breakable, going down in Round 10 to Loughborough Lightning. Thunder winning this matchup will see the side overtake Wasps on the ladder to be in top spot, so one thing for sure about this matchup is that it will be tough and could pave the way for the rest of the season. Thunder’s clinical ball movement down court has proved second to none in 2019, while the Wasps shooting pair of Rachel Dunn and Katie Harris has shown the importance of goalers sharing the load under the ring, as both continue to shoot a largely consistent volume of shots.

Severn Stars will host the Loughborough Lightning at 6pm at University of Worchester Arena on Saturday night, hoping to contend for their fourth win of the season and a bump up the ladder. Meanwhile the Lightning are currently sitting in fourth, having won their past five matches. Last time they met saw the Lightning win in front of a home crowd, relegating the Stars to a nine goal second quarter which ultimately won them the match. Fast forward to Round 11 and the Lightning are coming off a big confidence booster after a one goal win over the Wasps last round, shooting 20 goals in the final quarter to record the upset victory, boosted by dominant efforts from midcourter, Nat Panagarry. The Stars will have to both pull out all the shots and put up all their shots this week and can’t rest on their laurels when taking on the Lightning, who have put in the hard yards to change the course of their season after a difficult start to the year.

Finishing up Saturday’s matches will see an interesting game between third ranked Saracens Mavericks and sixth placed Surrey Storm at Hertfordshire Sports Village, also at 6pm. In their Round 2 match the Mavericks came out on top by 20 points, leading at halftime by eight goals to set up the victory, though the Storm showed some of their strong work ethic, contesting until the very end. The Mavericks are coming into this match off the back of their third loss for the year going down to the Thunder by eight points, while the Storm had a confidence boosting nine goal win over the Sirens to come into this round. Mavericks need another win this week to maintain their position on the ladder, while Storm will want to take this opportunity to get another win on the board ready for the final push of the season, only sitting two games behind Team Bath in fifth. The midcourt battle between Shadine Van Der Merwe and Georgia Lees may prove to be the difference between a win and a loss, with both sides having strong and efficient players at the post.

Monday night will see the final match of Round 11, with Celtic Dragons hosting London Pulse at Sports Wales National Centre at 7pm. Pulse let the Dragons get on top of the in the second quarter last time they met, with a 16 goal deficit at half time leading to a 27 point loss. The Dragons haven’t had much more success than the Pulse since that matchup, but will still head into this round with a leg up on the Pulse. Both sides are coming off close losses in Round 10 so will be ready for a tough slog to get the points on the board, while Pulse have shown a lot of improvement in the past few weeks and are getting ever closer to their elusive second win for the season. If the Dragons take control of Pulse’s midcourt early they have a good chance to get the job done, however the Pulse have grown since their last matchup so are much more likely to be able to come back into the game, with technical abilities the likes of shooters, Shantal Slater and Chiara Semple able to quickly put points on the board.