Hawks Netball’s Championship division team has grabbed top spot on the VNL ladder after taking down the league-leading Melbourne University Lightning in Round 6.

Read: Hawks spread their wings into netball

The Hawks faced their sternest test yet when they took on the 2016 premiers and 2017 runners-up, who had won five in a row despite missing a handful of players through Australian Netball League commitments or injury. Meanwhile the Hawks were positioned second, having suffered just one loss against DC North East Blaze in Round 2.

And the match well and truly lived up to its billing in the first half, with the Hawks trailing 10-14 at quarter-time but chipping away in the second quarter to be down by only a single goal – 25-26 – at the half-time break.

The Lightning swung a major goaling change in the third quarter, while the Hawks switched centre Tayla Kearns into wing defence in a bid to quell the dangerous Dani Stewart, and introduced Monique Tarrant at centre. The moves yielded almost instant results, with the Hawks outscoring Lightning 15-6 and taking a 40-32 lead at the final change.

A burst of goals early in the final quarter put the result beyond doubt but the Hawks continued pushing right through to the end, taking the quarter 17-13 and delivering a 57-43 win.

The Hawks will now back up on Sunday for Round 7 against the seventh-placed Boroondara Express.