Netball London Live: Surrey Storm v Hertfordshire Mavericks
- Published
Surrey Storm will face Hertfordshire Mavericks on Saturday at London's Copper Box Arena in the UK's biggest ever domestic netball match.
The Superleague game, marking the half-way point of the season, will be played in front of a record-breaking crowd of over 2,700 at the Olympic Park.
League leaders Surrey Storm go into the round-seven game unbeaten, while Hertfordshire sit fourth.
"This is a history-making day," said Mavericks captain Sasha Corbin.
She told BBC Sport: "It's great to be a part of such a big game and it's huge for domestic netball.
"Not every franchise will get to experience this. It's about pushing the game to the next level."
Two-time champions Mavericks have had mixed form so far - winning three games and losing three - but wing attack Corbin says her side remain confident of inflicting a first defeat on Surrey.
"We know we can compete with them," she said.
"They have a strong attacking team but I think we have the defensive line-up to counteract that.
"They're clinical in attack. They deserve to be where they are. But it's about us throwing a spanner into the works.
"To win it would be a huge confidence boost for us.
"This would be the perfect game to right some wrongs from this season."
But two-time finalists Surrey have current form and history on their side.
The Storm have won their last six meetings with their local rivals, and lead the table and goal difference rankings.
"It's going to be a great game. It's a bit of a local derby and we always have a hard fight against them," said Surrey goalkeeper Hannah Reid.
"They're coming off the back of a loss last week and I'm sure they'll be wanting to stamp their authority on the game."
Netball London Live aims to showcase the domestic Superleague on a larger scale.
Saturday's attendance at the Copper Box easily surpasses the previous record of 1,607, which was achieved at the 2013 Superleague grand final, when Team Bath beat Celtic Dragons in Worcester.
Surrey player-coach and England international Tamsin Greenway is delighted that the domestic game is now reaching a bigger audience.
"The interest has always been there and, at Surrey, we always sell out our home games.
"We could sell it twice over," said the 31-year-old.
"But it's growing even more and the Copper Box has given us the chance to do that."
And Corbin added: "In the summer of London 2012, I was only dreaming that we could play in one of those arenas. To be able to do it now is massive.
"It's now about pushing the game to the next level."
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