Jameela McCarthy, one of two of T&T's latest netball export, and her Saracens Mavericks placed fourth in the Rise Again Festival played over the weekend in Manchester, England.
Her national teammate defender Shaquanda Greene-Noel's Celtic Dragons was a 10th-place finisher in the 11-team competition which was won by the Manchester Thunder after it topped Loughborough Lightning, 45-37, in the final.
The two-day tournament saw 10 Netball Superleague teams along with men's teams Knights from London and Spartans from Manchester.
On Sunday the second and final day of the event, the Mavericks battled Strathclyde Sirens in the third-place playoff but fell to a narrow 32-30 defeat, just missing out on a top-three finish while Greene-Noel's Dragons had to play in a three-team round-robin to decide the ninth to 11th classification places.
On the first day, teams were divided into four groups and competed in the round-robin phase of the competition,
McCarthy's defensive presence was felt in Mavericks' opening match in Group B, picking up the "Player of the Match" award in helping her team upstage the London Pulse, 31-22 in the final match of the first session.
After the lunch break, the Mavericks beat the Spartan Men 39-23 to top the group, to progress to the first to fourth place playoffs. The other teams advancing were Lightning, Thunder and the Sirens.
Meanwhile, Greene-Noel's and her Dragons were on the losing end of their two preliminary round matches, first going under to the eventual winner Thunder (45-28) and Wasps Netball (34-24), to place in the bottom of Group C to face off against Spartans Men and Surrey Storm for the ninth to 11th positions, the following day.
McCarthy and her Mavericks team's chance at a spot in the final ended in the first semifinal before the lunch break on Sunday, after being beaten 39-27 by the Lightning. This meant that they had to play for third place against the other losing semifinalist, Sirens, who went under to Thunder (38-25). The Strathclyde team had enough in the tank to seal the two-goal victory over Mavericks and finish third.
Earlier, Greene-Noel and her Wales-based team, aiming at the ninth spot the highest they could have placed in the competition, outplayed Spartans Men (29-19). The Dragons had only to beat Storm but they were unable to get the win, suffering another close loss, 30-28 and settled for 10th spot. This after Storm beat Spartans 32-24, to take ninth place while the latter finished 11th.
Both McCarthy and Greene-Noel's teams as well as the other women's teams in the Festival are preparing for the upcoming season of the Vitality Netball Superleague which starts on February 5 at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham.
The two T&T players will clash early in the season on February 6 at the same venue.
McCarthy's team started the preseason well, finishing runners-up in the Fast5 Netball All-Stars tournament. The Mavericks met Team Bath in the final and fell to a 23-17 defeat.
The season ends with the grand final on June 5.
Rise Again Festival Final Standings
1 Manchester Thunder; 2 Loughborough Lightning; 3 Strathclyde Sirens; 4 Saracens Mavericks; 5 Knights Men; 6 Team Bath; 7 London Pulse; 8 Wasps; 9 Surrey Storm; 10 Celtic Dragons; 11 Spartans Men.
