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What a difference a week makes in Super Netball.
Last Saturday, the Melbourne Vixens were shocked in the major semi-final by 25 goals as the Adelaide Thunderbirds locked in a grand final spot.
It was their biggest loss of the season, and head coach Simone McKinnis described it as "one of their worst performances ever".
Meanwhile, the West Coast Fever had romped to a 10-goal victory over the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the minor semi-final to keep their season alive.
The two teams' confidence levels were therefore at totally different ends of the scale on Saturday as they headed into a must-win preliminary final on the Vixens' turf.
And yet somehow it was the home team that had enough self-belief to secure a shot at the title.
The Vixens rode a wave of support from an 8,058-strong crowd at John Cain Arena to hold on for a nail-biting victory, 73-72.
Up by 12 goals with four minutes on the clock, the Fever threatened to pinch the lead in the dying moments. Sinking six super shots, they brought the game back to within one and made it a nervous wait for Vixens fans.
The visitors were left reeling, knowing they'd fallen agonisingly short in a preliminary final for a second consecutive season, losing again by just a single goal to finish in third place overall.
Vixens' shooters shine
It was a much better performance by the Vixens' shooters after they were completely outplayed last week by Adelaide's Jamaican imports Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson.
This time they were facing another Sunshine Girl in Kadie-Ann Dehaney, but the Fever could not shut down their ball speed, depth of the centre pass or their shooter-to-shooter connection.
Kiera Austin was awarded player-of-the-match honours for her silky-smooth moves on court, finishing with 25 goals and four super shots at 91 per cent accuracy.
Outside the circle, Austin also contributed 25 feeds and 19 goal assists, acting as the linchpin in the Vixens' attacking line.
Speaking after the match, McKinnis and captain Kate Moloney confirmed the team hadn't reviewed their demoralising loss to the Thunderbirds properly, opting to wait and see if they really needed to relive it all over again.
This was probably a bit of a masterstroke from McKinnis, to focus her team's energy on their strengths — as many had wondered how they would recover mentally from such a heavy defeat.
Now they've reached the grand final, she acknowledged they wouldn't be able to hide anymore and would need to analyse that loss closely.
The Thunderbirds will likely be even better with a week off, playing in front of their loyal fans at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, which is a scary thought.
But before we look too far ahead, let's review what the Vixens did right to get there.
Eddy back to full strength
McKinnis made a crucial change to her line-up for the preliminary final, giving Kate Eddy the nod at wing defence.
Eddy has slowly increased her minutes since cracking her fibula in round five and spending seven weeks on the sideline.
In her fourth game back, the defender finally played a full 60 minutes.
It was a bit of a reward as last week Eddy came off the bench and provided impact. In a match where not much went right, she impressed.
As Eddy donned the wing defence bib, everyone else shuffled around and Emily Mannix was forced out of the starting seven.
The Fever were unchanged, and despite being the more in-form team, there was an early miss from their Jamaican target, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
The shooter went 58 minutes last week without a blemish, so this was a bit rare.
Garbin, too, missed her first attempt. In good news, both shooters rebounded like their lives depended on it and converted their next shot.
The Fever got out to an early 5-1 lead thanks to a couple of deflections from Dehaney, but it was just as hard to feed their shooter at the other end.
For a second week, Vixens goalkeeper Rudi Ellis got a good start and proved her aerial abilities against tall Jamaican shooters.
Leaping into the air to cut off the high feed to Fowler-Nembhard, Ellis won the ball by setting up either in front of her opponent or on the side of their body.
Her quick footwork and long limbs frustrated the world's best shooter as Ellis beat her to possession and leaned over her shot.
Still, the Vixens weren't always converting these opportunities, and as Ellis started to get dragged high and wide in the circle to make room for the feed to Fowler-Nembhard, the Fever got out to a five-goal lead.
Once the super shot was in play, the Vixens nailed four long bombs and suddenly the game was back within one, 19-18.
In the second quarter, the teams were going goal for goal as the Fever held onto the run of the centre pass.
Then, with five minutes before half-time, Fever head coach Dan Ryan sensed his defenders were lagging and took a timeout to make substitutions.
English Rose Fran Williams was sent to the bench after failing to keep up with Austin, and instead Sunday Aryang was given that task at goal defence.
The halt in play didn't help the Fever though, as Eddy produced the spark the Vixens needed to take control.
Coming out of the timeout she came up with a crucial intercept, and this was a turning point where the team realised they were winning the defensive battle.
From here they were able to get in front for the first time in the game.
But a miss with 40 seconds to go was punished quickly by the Fever, as Alice Teague-Neeld rushed the ball from the middle third downtown to Fowler-Nembhard in the circle.
Fowler-Nembhard dished off to fellow Jamaican import and Fever goal attack Beckford, and with their first super shot of the game, the team in green were back in front 38-37 at the main break.
Mannix provides another gear
In the third quarter, the Fever's defensive pressure lifted and Dehaney took an intercept to help her team push their lead out.
By the midway point, they were up 49-45 and the Vixens opted for a timeout.
Here, McKinnis injected Mannix at goal keeper with fresh legs.
Although Ellis had started the match all guns blazing, the Vixens needed to find another gear and that well and truly came through Mannix.
This is where the game flipped on its head, because straight away Mannix got a tip on the ball and chased it down. From here on, they were in their opponent's heads.
The Fever threw the ball over the side of the court and the Vixens made it four in a row to level the scores. With an Austin super shot, the Vixens once again were in the lead.
Fowler-Nembhard even proved she was human by fumbling a feed and missing another two attempts at the super shot.
These mistakes gifted Vixens their biggest hold on the game 57-52.
Heading out for the final quarter, Ryan made another change to try and claw the score back. Williams re-entered at goal defence and Alice Teague-Neeld moonlighted at goal attack for just the third time this season.
The Vixens were on a roll by now, though, and with four minutes left, the margin had blown out to 12 goals. Yet Ryan wasn't about to give up, and took one last chance to address his team in a timeout.
"The situation is pretty clear, guys. We've got to go for it, the super shot is in play. It's been done before," he said.
The Fever hustled hard, scrambling to put up super shots with any touch they got on the ball.
Most would have assumed the game was out of reach, but their fightback was impressive and they somehow managed to score six two-pointers from the white arc in very a short period of time.
The crowd was quiet as they held their breath, and that silence was filled by Ryan desperately yelling from the coach's box, reminding the Fever they had nothing to lose.
In the end, the Vixens just managed to hold onto possession to close out the game.
They scraped through by the skin of their teeth, but they'll have to be better next week against the Thunderbirds if they're to win a second Super Netball trophy and clinch their first premiership since 2020.
"We probably didn't need to let it get that close; we'll take a lesson from that," Moloney said.
"We'll enjoy this win tonight, but we know that we've got to get to work.
"I'm just super proud of the effort of the girls because last week was disappointing and the fight that we showed today was great."
The Super Netball grand final will be held in Adelaide on Saturday August 3.