Defending Varsity Netball champions Kovsies held on for a tough 51-45 semi-final victory over NWU-Pukke on Monday in Bloemfontein, while Tuks continued their unbeaten run and booked a place in the Varsity Netball final with a clinical 68-46 victory over Maties. The two winners will play in the final of this exciting competition against each other this coming Monday in Pretoria. The final will take place in the Rembrandt Hall on UP’s sports campus. The Bloemfontein side built up a comfortable lead at Monday night’s match. Despite a strong finish from their rivals, they closed the game to go through to their second consecutive final. The Pretoria side will face defending champions Kovsies in the final after cruising to another comfortable victory. Both teams were determined to grab the early initiative, but the class of Tuks on attack saw them build up a healthy lead. Maties fought hard and covered a lot of ground, but Tuks was ruthlessly accurate and established a 15-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Pretoria outfit was able to steal a few crucial centre passes, and made them count with some great finishing in front of goal. Maties came out swinging as they tried desperately to keep Tuks within striking distance, but the home side took their power play and managed to maintain their advantage as they took a 32-21 lead into the half-time break. It was more of the same in the second half, as Maties slaved away only to be thwarted by the disciplined Tuks team. The hosts were ruthless in the third period and showed impressive defensive discipline to hold out against the desperate Cape side. Maties took the power play in a bid to work their way back into the match, but they could not stop Tuks from bringing up their half-century and by the final break the lead was 54-34. As hard as they fought, there was no way back for Maties as Tuks continue their unbeaten march in the competition, with just one hurdle left.