Ovens and Murray through to Association Championships finals day in Melbourne

Showing huge spirit and no little skill in cold and wet conditions, the O and M 17-and-under side reached the grand final of Sunday's North East qualifer in Shepparton before going down 21-12 to the GV League.

But with the top two sides in each age group progressing to finals day on June 18, they'd done enough to keep alive the dream of a first state title since 2014.

The O and M had to do it without star attacker Mia Lavis, who was ruled unavailable after being named in the Australian FAST5 team heading to the Commonwealth Youth Games.

"That was pretty significant for us because she's a big part of our team," coach Jodie House admitted.

"We had another girl pull out last-minute for personal reasons so we hit the day with nine girls playing 10 games in pretty cold and harsh conditions.

"They started the day really well and were super competitive.

"We dropped two games for the day but we'd done enough to finish on top."

Facing the O and M in the semi-final, after an eight-match round-robin stage, was the Murray League.

"Often, for us as coaches, that semi-final is a bit more like a grand final because it's the top two teams that go through to association finals in Melbourne," House said.

"Knowing what we'd battled with throughout the day, for us to get through that semi-final, we're pretty happy with the result.

"It was a superb effort from the girls to get themselves through.

"All the other teams had a pretty strong rotating bench but we had such limited numbers to work with.

"A couple of girls came on and off through the midcourt but our goalers and defenders spent the whole day on court.

ALSO IN SPORT

"I'm so proud of them after a day of highs and lows."

Ava Koschitzke and Indie Conway were immense defensively for the O and M while Lily McKimmie did a superb job in goals all day.

"Ava's in a great place at the moment with her netball," House said.

"It's so great to watch a young girl who has had her disappointments...

"She didn't make the top 25 of state trials, the same team Mia got into - and she sets herself some high goals but she took that knockback and got herself super fit.

"She's reaping all the rewards she's entitled to with the hard work she's put in. She led by example on Sunday, she was outstanding.

"Lily had a big day on Saturday, getting some court time in Wodonga's A-grade, and she didn't come off the court for us, spending most of the day in goal-shooter."

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: