The Melbourne Vixens narrowly defeated the Collingwood Magpies 60-56 on Sunday in a tightly contested match.
The round one Victorian battle set the scene for a highly physical encounter and the second edition did not disappoint.
Vixens Captain Kate Moloney refused to falter in the mid-court against strong Magpies centre Kim Ravaillion, with the duo proving to be a tough match-up.
Kumwenda and Phillips displayed their pin-point shooting accuracy once again this week, with Kumwenda demonstrating 100% accuracy leading into half-time.
Kumwenda’s outstanding performance in the third quarter gave the Vixens enough momentum to pull away by as much as seven goals, forcing the Magpies to make tactical changes to their team.
The Magpies swapped Shae Brown into GA to tighten up the score, but the Vixens managed to hold on to take the game by four points.
Liz Watson was named Nissan Player of the Match.
The Vixens’ win sees them sit equal on the ladder with Sunshine Coast Lightning and only one point behind the ladder leaders, Giants Netball, who they defeated last weekend.
Melbourne Vixens will head to Adelaide to take on the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Round 8 of the Suncorp Super Netball competition.
Meanwhile, Victorian Fury is set to play in the finals of the Australian Netball League next weekend after securing their position as top team in the competition.
The Fury won both games against Southern Force (SA) to secure top spot on the ladder.
They will travel to Perth this weekend to play Queensland Fusion in finals on Saturday. A win will give the Victorian side a Grand Final berth on Sunday.
