Live coverage of Severn Stars vs Saracens Mavericks gets underway at 6.45pm on Monday on Sky Sports Mix & Action
Monday 4 March 2019 16:41, UK
Wasps will be aiming for seventh heaven when they host Strathclyde Sirens in the Vitality Superleague, with Saracens Mavericks, Manchester Thunder and Loughborough Lightning all looking to keep pace.
Wasps are the only side with a 100 per cent record while Mavericks are neck and neck with Thunder, with fourth spot there to play for with Lightning, Team Bath and Surrey Storm all firmly in the mix.
With all eyes on points and goal difference, round eight will be crucial for teams with play-off ambitions to improve their goals plus column.
Sky Sports will be live at the University of Worcester Arena to see Severn Stars take on Mavs.
Dragons were at the mercy of Thunder's aggressive attacking while Lightning weathered Surrey Storm in front of the Sky Sports cameras last time out.
Round seven did bring some positives for the Welsh squad as Bethan Dyke made her return to the Superleague since her ACL injury cut short her 2018 Commonwealth Games campaign.
Superleague talking point
We definitely wanted to back to back wins and I think you can tell from our recent games that we are building and we are improving as each week goes on, we're a new squad and we are growing and I think we showed some good areas during the march but we still need to go back and look at the game as a whole and work on those errors for next week.
Dragons' Dee Bolakoro: "Woke up to a wide array of emotions - the agony of defeat! But one thing I've come to learn in sports is we have no choices about how we lose, but we do have a choice about how we come back and prepare to win again. Focusing on round eight with optimism"
Storm have now faced three of the current top four teams and proved they can respond to challenges but it will be Mikki Austin's priority to secure their first home win after calling for the support of another capacity crowd.
Lightning shook things up after defeating Thunder in round six and finally broke their win-loss pattern with an impressive win over Storm.
They currently sit in fourth position but with Bath and Surrey hot on their heels, head coach Sara Bayman will expect nothing but maximum points against the league's bottom side.
Superleague talking points
Pulse captain Ama Agbeze will be desperate to add some much needed points on the table, but a trip to Loughborough could well be a tall order.
If points were awarded for noise levels then Sirens home crowd tops the table beyond any doubt. Their fans will be making a long trip to the Midlands for a tough encounter against leaders Wasps, who currently sit three points clear at the top of the table and look in fine fettle.
Superleague talking points
Siren's CEO Claire Nelson: "Your energy, support and enthusiasm is incredible. Thank you. We will work on the results - just keep being your amazing selves. #youarethenoise"
Wasps will be aiming to make it a perfect seven from seven against the Scottish outfit, who sit in eighth position.
Stars will host the Sky Sports camera's this week when they take on a dominant Mavericks side.
Mavericks have been clinical this season following their collaboration with their rugby counterparts and the combination has been widely associated to their thriving accomplishments on the netball court.
The Worcester-based Stars silenced Sirens in round seven with a ruthless display as they made full use of their international pool of talent. New Zealand's Cat Tuivaiti oozed world class dominance alongside Australian U21 International Gia Abeernathy, but Saracens will be firm favourites to collect all the points.
Superleague talking point
I'm really pleased to get such a strong win. Our first half was particularly outstanding. We have talked after the last few games about trusting our game plan and sticking to structures and tonight I saw that from every single one of them.
Superleague is back on your Sky Sports screen on Monday, March 4 when Severn Stars host Saracens Mavericks in the final game of Round Eight - join us on Sky Sports Mix & Action from 6.45pm
