Linda Moreotsene
Linda Moreotsene
Griqualand West ended Wednesday's third day of play at the South African Netball Championships at the University of Pretoria as the only undefeated team .
When they crushed Gauteng East 47-33, the team from the Northern Cape town of Kimberley added another big scalp to their noteworthy collection.
Coach Elsje van der Merwe - who only brought seven players with her - has capitalised on her team's underdog status .
They can't afford any injuries, as there are no substitutes on their bench.
The only black playersin the side, Kelebogile Moroke and Jenine Tyala are relatively new to the team. The experienced Liezel Wuim and Claudia Basson are regarded as the backbone of the team.
Wing defence Moroke accepts that they have surprised themselves as much as anyone else, and that it is important now to just keep their feet on the ground.
"We have been playing in the B-Section all along, and were ready for a challenge. Right now we rely on the leadership of our captain [Wuim] on the court and the coach's motivation. We also work together in our team and we have been enjoying ourselves," Moroke said.
Wuim said: "We do not want to speak too soon, but our strength has been in our working together as a unit. We came here wanting to be competitive, so I would say we managed to achieve that.
"I think I am a very positive person and I try and put that across to my team."
Basson, who scores most of the team's goals, said they were starting to feel the pressure, and still had to take on Boland, Western Cape and Central Gauteng before tomorrow's final.
"We are a very tight unit. When we play, we take it one quarter at a time and play as hard as we can because we are always desperate to win," she said.
Van der Merwe's team has been unstoppable so far this week, it is now anybody's guess who will stop them, or if they will succumb to fatigue or injury, especially with such a small squad .
They will play Gauteng Central today at 11.30am and Free State at 4pm.
l Western Cape suffered their first loss to Nelson Mandela Bay when they went down 40-33 to the Eastern Cape side.
Griqualand West run riot
Linda Moreotsene
Linda Moreotsene
Griqualand West ended Wednesday's third day of play at the South African Netball Championships at the University of Pretoria as the only undefeated team .
When they crushed Gauteng East 47-33, the team from the Northern Cape town of Kimberley added another big scalp to their noteworthy collection.
Coach Elsje van der Merwe - who only brought seven players with her - has capitalised on her team's underdog status .
They can't afford any injuries, as there are no substitutes on their bench.
The only black playersin the side, Kelebogile Moroke and Jenine Tyala are relatively new to the team. The experienced Liezel Wuim and Claudia Basson are regarded as the backbone of the team.
Wing defence Moroke accepts that they have surprised themselves as much as anyone else, and that it is important now to just keep their feet on the ground.
"We have been playing in the B-Section all along, and were ready for a challenge. Right now we rely on the leadership of our captain [Wuim] on the court and the coach's motivation. We also work together in our team and we have been enjoying ourselves," Moroke said.
Wuim said: "We do not want to speak too soon, but our strength has been in our working together as a unit. We came here wanting to be competitive, so I would say we managed to achieve that.
"I think I am a very positive person and I try and put that across to my team."
Basson, who scores most of the team's goals, said they were starting to feel the pressure, and still had to take on Boland, Western Cape and Central Gauteng before tomorrow's final.
"We are a very tight unit. When we play, we take it one quarter at a time and play as hard as we can because we are always desperate to win," she said.
Van der Merwe's team has been unstoppable so far this week, it is now anybody's guess who will stop them, or if they will succumb to fatigue or injury, especially with such a small squad .
They will play Gauteng Central today at 11.30am and Free State at 4pm.
l Western Cape suffered their first loss to Nelson Mandela Bay when they went down 40-33 to the Eastern Cape side.