ROUND 13 of the Vitality Netball Superleague is set to begin over the weekend, with four Saturday night games kicking off the run home for a number of teams. The game of the round is likely to be the ladder-busting match between second and third, with the Wasps hosting Bath in a match that could have dire consequences for the losing side. This game will shake up the current ladder standings, with the other match-ups unlikely to have such a big influence. But at this stage every win matters so expect a competitive hit-out.

Two 5pm games will open Round 13, with London Pulse hosting fifth placed Saracens Mavericks in a match with a fairly predictable outcome at this stage of the competition. The Pulse are yet to secure their second win of the season, and despite getting close on a few occasions, have had no luck. The Mavericks came frustratingly close to the Loughborough Lightning in Round 12, going down by five points after a sloppy final quarter. With that in mind, they will want to exert all their strength to boost their percentage and work their way back into the top four and secure their spot. The Pulse put up a disappointing performance against Wasps Netball last week, shooting only 14 goals to 35 in the second half and allowing the Wasps to almost double their final score. Last time these sides met saw the Mavericks came away with a similar margin with a big second half setting up the win for the Mavericks. The Pulse will need to regroup ahead of this week’s match to ensure they do not have a repeat of last time around and try and regain some control of their inaugural Superleague season. Mavericks’ key shooter, George Fisher was not at her usual intensity last round, so will be ready for a tough match to get back up to her regular standard under the post. Loreen Ngwira was ordered off the court for persistent infringement last round, so the Pulse will need to clear up that issue ahead of this week’s match to ensure it does not happen again.

Match two of Saturday night is between top of the ladder, Manchester Thunder and Celtic Dragons, who are sitting in seventh with four wins. Another match which ladder positions indicate an outcome, the Dragons will need to do better than their Round 12 effort which saw a frustrating one goal loss to Severn Stars, who are now even with the Dragons on the ladder. Thunder had a predictably strong win over the Strathclyde Sirens last week, with a 26 point deficit taking the Thunder’s winning tally up to 10. Last time these sides met the Dragons put up a tough fight in patches, however still came out with a 27 point loss. Consistency seems to be the biggest issue for the Dragons this season after years at the bottom of the ladder, so putting up a strong performance this week is key if they want to keep their season rolling along smoothly through the middle of the ladder. The matchup between Dragons’ Dee Bolakoro and Thunder’s Joyce Mvula was the talking point last time around, with both players upping the intensity on and off the ball. Chelsea Lewis has showed great form under the post for the Dragons in recent weeks so will hope to come on after being subbed off for injury last round, while Thunder defenders, Kerry Almond and Emma Dovey are sure to make life hard in attack as per usual.

Two games will take place at 6pm on Saturday night, with the first between Severn Stars and Strathclyde Sirens at University of Worchester Arena. This game will be an interesting matchup, with the Stars only sitting in sixth on the ladder based on percentage meaning their position is highly contested. Regardless of whether the Sirens get the win this weekend, a tight match could see the Stars drop, which would give the Sirens some confidence in having some influence on ladder movement despite only having two wins for the season. That being said, the Stars got a win last week with a strong four quarter effort prevailing over the Dragons, while the Sirens struggled against the ladder leaders, Thunder so will be coming into this match with a fresh outlook for an opponent on the lower end of the ladder. Last time they met the Sirens lost by a whopping 19 goals, scoring only 37 goals against the Stars, so will need to come in strong to disrupt the Stars’ form after they came close to a win against Lightning in the past few weeks. Defensively Sam Cook, Jodi-Ann Ward and Ella Powell-Davies were dominant in their last meeting, so will want to stay on form while the Sirens continue to have issues in attack.

The second game will see Wasps Netball host Team Bath at Ricoh Arena in a battle for top four on the ladder, with the loser likely to drop into fifth. Both teams had wins in Round 12, and while Bath’s win was not by a huge margin it was their sixth win on the trot, bringing a boost of confidence into the side. The Wasps are only ahead of Bath on percentage, and a big win last week against the Pulse saw their percentage jump up again with their confidence. Last time these two sides met the Wasps came away with an 11 goal win after a dominant second quarter effort saw Team Bath fall behind, unable to come back into the match enough to get a win. Serena Guthrie was missing through injury when the sides last met, so will presumably take the court to start the match. Guthrie’s influence will hopefully provide some much-needed support and movement from defence through to attack, and help Bath’s defensive end to be bolstered from the get-go. If Bath can replicate their strong effort from the first quarter and second half of their last meeting, they have a real chance to get the jump over the Wasps. Bath’s defensive movement will be key in this matchup, and the pairing of Summer Artman and Eboni Usoro-Brown will be backed up well by Guthrie to make life hard for the Wasps goalers, with Rachel Dunn at the head.

The final match of the round will be on Monday night at 7pm at Loughborough Lightning’s home of Sir David Wallace Arena as they host the Surrey Storm to close out Round 13. This match should be an interesting one, with the Storm sticking tight with Team Bath last week, putting on a strong performance before losing momentum in the third. However, the Lightning had a big win over the Mavericks to get back into the top four, so will be ready to capitalise on a match against an opponent on the lower end of the ladder. The Storm took the foot off the accelerator in the middle quarters against the Lightning last time they met back in Round 7, so will be working on bringing their four quarter consistency up to keep their defence tight throughout the entire match. Despite a 16 point deficit last time around, the match intensity was high, so expect this game to be a big one in terms of pressure down court. Lightning’s Mary Cholhok and Vicki Oyesola have been dominant in recent weeks, so the Storm will have issues at both ends if they cannot capitalise on shooting opportunities through Sigi Burger, while Shadine Van Der Merwe is a player who could be key for keeping the ball away from the circle edge and Cholhok’s clutches in goal shooter.