The Melbourne Vixens' unbeaten run in Suncorp Super Netball rolled to six in a row on Saturday at John Cain Arena, the purple hosts holding off a gritty Adelaide Thunderbirds outfit 56-50 in a match that carried extra meaning for centre-court mainstay Kiera Austin.
Austin was playing her 100th elite Super Netball game, and the milestone was marked in fitting fashion: a tight, physical encounter that the Vixens only truly put away inside the final five minutes.
Head coach Di Honey said her side has developed a habit of closing games out when it matters. "They've done it the last six games, really. They tend to just get it together in the last quarter and everything just flows, it's an uncanny thing," Honey said after the match.
She pointed to the group's composure under pressure as the defining trait of an undefeated start that has the Vixens sitting alone atop the ladder. "They just get this calmness about them, but it's good to see that obviously they can do that, so I hope it continues."
For Austin, the moment was about more than the scoreline. The Australian Diamonds goal attack reflected on a journey that has taken her from junior pathways to a century of top-flight caps.
"I think there's been a lot of highs and a lot of lows that have come with it, but today's game is kind of exactly the reason that you love playing the sport," Austin said. "I knew it would be a really tough game, so to see the way the girls got around each other, and to have that sort of pressure put on them is really encouraging."
She made no secret of wanting more. "Obviously I'm super proud to play 100 games, and hopefully a couple more after that."
The Thunderbirds made the Vixens work for every goal, with physical defensive pressure through the middle third troubling Melbourne's feed into the circle in both the second and third quarters. Adelaide had the margin down to single digits with seven minutes remaining before the Vixens' experienced spine reasserted itself.
The Vixens now head into Round 7 with a clean sheet and a clear buffer on the chasing pack, while the Thunderbirds drop to a 3-3 record and remain in the mix for a finals berth. Melbourne next face a tough road trip, with the ladder increasingly looking like a two-horse race between the Vixens and the hard-charging West Coast Fever.