WOMENS: SOUTH PANTHERS TAKE ON USC LIONS

9 August 2024

This weekend the Women's South Panthers and USC Lions go head to head to secure their chance at taking home the League Championship title!
This Saturday 10th August 2024, at the Lights Community and Sports Centre 244-270 East Pkwy, LIGHTSVIEW SA 5085.

WOMEN'S LEAGUE- SOUTH PANTHERS VS USC LION
Game time: 3:00PM

We were lucky enough to hear from both teams on their thoughts and feelings leading up to an exciting game!

SOUTH PANTHERS:

Taj Paterson: Coach

South is making history,

"For the past two years I’ve seen multiple Division, Reserves and League teams make finals and I feel it shows off the depth of the club, when we have teams consistently making finals in both the women and the men’s sides. League Men have just recently appeared and won the 2022 Grand Final against Mt Lofty and again, have appeared in multiple finals rounds in recent history. It has been 19 years since the League Women have won a Grand Final. However, through the most recent years, they have continued to find success in repeated finals appearances whether that be Grand Final, Preliminary or Semi finals, more often than not, you will find the League Women in the top 4."

"The women’s attitude has been consistent this whole season and this weekend is no different. We have made it a key focus to approach each game the same way, with the same level of focus and intensity as we would any other game and they’ve done an unbelievable job at keeping this a constant variable for over 15 weeks. Determined and focused would be the two words that I’d use to describe how they are feeling in the lead up to the Grand Final this weekend."

Coach Paterson has faith in his team, "subtract any one player from this team, you would be getting a different result",

"The training focus is to continue to play the way that we play, both as a team and as individuals. This is what makes them a remarkable group of women, each person is incredibly unique and this is what has seen them have the success they’ve had this season. To me, each person on the roster is a key player. Every person contributes in a way that is productive to the team. If you were to subtract any one player from this team, you would be getting a different result. The success has come from each individual and it’d be a disservice to the team to say it came from a couple of key players."

Elke Jarvis: Player for South Panthers

South Panthers are eager to get their first Grand Final win this weekend,

"We celebrated a League Men premiership in 2022, and while the League Women have consistently played in the finals series for the last few seasons, we haven’t won a Grand Final for quite some time. We are feeling ready for this weekend. We have had a really strong second half of the season and have come together as a group to produce some top quality volleyball. In saying that, we know every match this season has been tough and this weekend will be no different, USC are a strong opponent so we will need to bring our best."

With a tough game coming up South are focusing on execution,

"The training focus has been small refinements of some areas of our game, but nothing too different from what we have been focusing on all season. It’s too late to go reinventing anything - we just have to back our game plan and focus on execution. We are so lucky as a team to have so many contributors, keep an eye on everyone! But if I had to say one person to watch it would be Sarah Gould. She has been instrumental for us for many years and is such an impressive player to watch."

USC LION:

Jack Payne: Coach

Coach Payne is confident for this weekends upcoming match,

"USC Lion has a very strong and successful history in the League Women’s division. They are the most successful club in South Australia."

We are confident and feel prepared for the match this week. We have found some great form at the right time of year. Spectators can expect us to serve hard and defend tough this weekend. Our strength comes from our depth, we don’t rely on just one player and have great depth in our squad. We aim to play an even game with everyone contributing."

Rebecca Reeve: Player for USC Lion

"The women have had a lot of success, we won 8 grand finals in a row when I first started in the team. Last year we came runner up so hungry to get back on top again!"

"Feeling excited! It’s always exciting to be in the biggest game of the season. There will definitely be some nervous too but I think we’ve had a strong end of the season so we should have some confidence behind us going in. Being aggressive in our attacking will be huge for us to bring on the weekend, South are a great side and rally well so we’ll need to be aggressive and confident in our attacking to compete. We have good depth in our team so no matter who’s on the court I’m confident they’ll do their job and play well."

Wishing both teams the best of luck to a thrilling game ahead!!!