THE state netball titles turned out to be bittersweet for the Sunraysia squad over the weekend, as the two teams had differing results.
The under-15 team had a slow start on Saturday, not getting their first win until round 7 when they defeated Murray 9-5.
The team continued the afternoon with another win against Dandenong Valley in round 8 and then drew with Two Bays in round 9.
Unfortunately, the under-17 team didn’t have much luck over the weekend, missing out on a win but only going down by one point in rounds 7 and 9 against Western and Jika.
Sunraysia state titles officer Alana Mills was happy with their performance and great sportsmanship as they battled through the weekend.
“They had a tough weekend with a few injuries, so it was disappointing for them,” Mills said.
“They really fought out games even if they weren’t winning and showed 100 per cent effort the whole weekend, so hats off to them.”
The under-15 team hit their stride on Sunday as they won four games and drew one, out of six.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to see them into the semi-finals but earned them 11th on the ladder, an improvement from last year’s 14th.
“They beat the team that came runners-up, so it was probably unfortunate they had a bit of a slow start on Saturday and dropped a couple of games,” Mills said.
“They had a really solid team and it was a whole team effort to reach 11th, which is the best we have ever done.”
Three Sunraysia umpires joined the squad at the state titles and were able to receive valuable feedback, which Mills said would aid in their development.
“(The umpires) received some fantastic feedback from the Netball Victoria mentors,” Ms Mills said.
“We will use that feedback and work for their next badge.”
