Sky Live: Vitality Superleague semi-finals
Coverage underway on Sky Sports from 5:30pm on Saturday - Wasps v Team Bath starts at 5:45pm with Loughborough v Manchester Thunder centre pass at 7:45pm
Saturday 30 June 2018 23:22, UK
Loughborough Lightning host Manchester Thunder and Team Bath travel to Wasps as the final four teams in the Superleague bid for a place in the 2018 Grand Final.
After 17 rounds of the regular season, the Vitality Superleague conclusion edges closer this weekend with two intriguing semi-finals pitting the top four against one another.
Wasps, the defending champions, are rewarded for finishing top of the regular-season standings with a home semi-final, but with the Ricoh Arena unavailable, they will play five-time champions Team Bath at the University of Worcester.
The other semi-final sees Loughborough host Thunder at Leicester Arena. Both teams are in red-hot form as they chase a place in the Grand Final on Saturday, July 7.
The Sky Sports cameras will be at both games, with the action, including extra-time if required, from 5:45pm with Jane Dougall and the team at the Leicester Arena.
Wasps v Team Bath, University of Worcester, Centre Pass: 5:45pm
Wasps come into the game on the back of a return to form with four successive victories.
Having won the title in their debut year, Tamsin Greenway's team started the 2018 season with 12 successive victories before suffering back-to-back defeats to Loughborough Lightning and Manchester Thunder.
But since then, it has been a return to their very best form for the team chasing back-to-back titles.
"I don't think we could be going into the semi-finals in any better way," said Wasps Netball director Greenway.
"There is the theory that if we finish top then we get an easier semi-final but I don't think any of the teams in this year's top four will look at each other and think 'we want you'.
"We'll take nothing for granted in this game, Bath are a quality side who are pretty much always in the top four. It only takes one game to turn it on its head so we have to be prepared and concentrate on our own game."
In the two meetings this season, it is Wasps who have triumphed, winning both matches by 18 goals, but it counts for nothing in Saturday's semi-final cauldron.
In contrast to the other three teams, Bath have wobbled with just two wins from their last six games and they head into the match after four straight defeats and out improve on a semi-final defeat to Lightning last year.
But director of netball Anna Stembridge is relishing the fresh start of the post season.
"The slate is wiped clean now and, as we have seen many times in the past, anything can happen in a semi-final," she said.
"We have produced moments of brilliance against all of the top teams in the past couple of weeks and we are more than capable of beating them if we stick to our gameplan and play with confidence and belief.
"My belief in this squad has never wavered and the fact we are playing the semi-final at Worcester is an amazing opportunity.
"It is the next closest thing we could get to having a home semi-final as it isn't too far for our fans to travel. They have been incredible this season and it would be brilliant if they could get behind us again."
Loughborough Lightning v Manchester Thunder, Leicester Arena, 7:45pm
Like the first semi-final, both Thunder and Lightning are back in the final four and taking aim at a spot in London's Copper Box finale and both come into the game in red-hot form.
Thunder have won each of their last eight games since a defeat to Loughborough and the two-time champions are out to improve on their semi-final defeat to eventual champions Wasps last year.
But their winning run is eclipsed by Lightning, who have won 11 successive games since the return from Commonwealth action, and are keen to build on their winning run in front of a huge Leicester crowd.
"We're definitely very happy with how the season's gone since the Commonwealth Games break and we're carrying a lot of momentum heading into this game," said Loughborough's Ella Clark.
"It's going to take a lot of running and a lot of grit! Thunder are a very good team and they've played together for a long time so they have that connection - we've just got to be very clinical with what we do."
"I'm expecting a lot of noise from our fans this weekend. Thunder will bring a group of away fans and they'll be loud, but we'll hopefully outnumber them and be even louder, especially if we can get that drum going!"
The two competed in two of the Superleague's most enthralling games this season - Loughborough winning 62-56 in Manchester in Round 11, gaining revenge for a one-goal defeat at the Leicester Arena in February's pulsating clash.
Thunder head coach Karen Greig admits Saturday's second semi-final is one not to be missed: "It's going to come down to who puts out the most consistent performance on the day," she said.
"You look at Loughborough Lightning as a squad and they are immense from front to back. Both games we've played against them this season, the netball's been fantastic.
"It's going to be an exciting game, it's going to be fast, there will probably be a physical element to it as they're always is but we will be well prepared for that."
It's all eyes on the semi-finals and Grand Final as the 2018 campaign reaches its dramatic conclusion over the next two weeks, all on Sky Sports Mix, channel 121, which is free for all Sky customers.
Both of Saturday's semi-finals are live from 5.30pm with centre-pass in Wasps v Team Bath at 5:45pm followed by Loughborough Lightning v Manchester Thunder
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