ROUND three of the Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL) is upon us, and is sure to shake up the competition as it comes. With the competition still sitting wide open at this early stage of the season, we’re sure to see some more surprises come out of the 2019 VNSL league over the next few rounds.

The round will open with the Saracens Mavericks playing Loughborough Lightning at home at Hertfordshire Sports Village on Friday night at 7:00pm. It will be an interesting matchup, with both sides coming off a round one loss before a round two victory. The Mavericks are currently sitting comfortably in third place on the VNSL ladder, while the Lightning are biting at the heels of the top five, sitting in seventh position. Though Mavericks won convincingly over Surrey Storm in round two, the Lightning will be wanting to assert dominance and mix up the ladder after a shaky start to 2019.

Friday night netball continues with the Severn Stars taking on Celtic Dragons at the University of Worchester Arena. The Stars are yet to win from two games, while the Dragons are sitting happy in fourth after a confident win over London Pulse in round two. Though the Dragons are sitting in unfamiliar territory with a strong win early in the season, they will want to latch on to the winning feeling and take advantage of the Stars’ dismal start to the 2019 VNSL season.

Manchester Thunder will take on Strathclyde Sirens at Belle Vue in Manchester to start the Saturday matches, opening the evening of netball at 5:00 pm. The Thunder will be hoping to back up their strong winning start to the 2019 season having not had the opportunity to play a game in round two, while the Sirens will want to put their best team forward and bring back the intensity they showed in their round one win after last week’s loss to Team Bath.

Wasps Netball will play their first away game of the season on Saturday night as they travel to take on London Pulse at their home court Copperbox Arena. Pulse will be looking for their first home win of the season this week after going down by 17 points against the Celtic Dragons in round two. Pulse will be hoping their home crowd intimidates the 2018 premiers as the Wasps go into this game after an extended break having not played since round one, while also hoping to backup their strong 30-point win in round one against Loughborough Lightning.

Round three will close with ladder leaders, Team Bath taking on bottom of the table Surrey Storm at Team Bath Arena at 7:00pm on Monday night. A nine-day turnaround for Team Bath is sure to work in their favour at home, while Storm will want to stem the flow of Bath’s midcourt early in the game so they don’t come out with another big loss. Bath is sure to relish their first home game of the season and will hope to replicate their two opening round wins for their home crowd.