Ararat shook off a slow start and illness to one of its star players to steamroll the Eagles by 13 goals and now have a date with premiership rivals the Horsham Demons in tomorrow's second semi final.

Rats' coach Rebecca Skrabl said her side's win over Warrack was a good start to their September campaign, but they were made to work for the win having trailed the Eagles by four goals at quarter time.

"It was a pretty average quarter from us and Warrack came out firing," she said.

"It wasn't so much that we weren't expecting them to come out fired up, we just made a couple of mistakes and of course the more mistakes you make the more confident they get and suddenly you find yourself trailing.

"It always is more pressure and higher intensity coming into finals. Warracknabeal played completely different to what they had during the year, which is something you have always got to be prepared for."

Illness saw Olivia West leave the court in the second quarter, which forced Jakki Gibson into wing attack and Tahnee Walker into goals.

The required moves actually worked in the Rats' favour, with Gibson feeding Walker (23 goals) and Megan Shea (19) well throughout the second half of the final.

Skrabl said Ararat remained calm despite trailing and eventually turned the deficit into a two goal halftime lead.

"We are used to chasing other teams, we have been in that position before, so it was just about taking that moment to breathe, steady ourselves and get back to playing the way we know we can," she said.

"The thing was once we caught them they started to panic a little bit more, so that sort of changed the situation too."

The Rats started to really hit their straps the further the match progressed, with a 12-goal third quarter and 13-goal final term culminating in the 43 to 30 victory.

Gibson and Walker were named Ararat's top performers.

"By the time we hit the third quarter those changes had settled in and we were able to carry out the match," Skrabl said.

"Jakki's absolute strength is her passing ability and also coming out of the ring into wing attack she knows exactly what to wait for with the shooters setting up and knows what passes they need.

"Her drive into the ring is a real benefit.

"Tahnee and Megan have had a couple of quarters here and there in the last couple of weeks leading up to finals and they haven't really clicked, whereas on Saturday I thought they combined really well.

"They play really similar games, so it was always going to take a while to adjust to that, but they have really started to play to each other's strengths now and Tahnee was just brilliant on the weekend."

The Rats have the chance to fast track themselves into another WNA grand final with victory over the Demons, but will need to perform the way the side did in round 12 when it won by three goals the first time Ararat had defeated Horsham in two seasons.

Skrabl said she is excited to be facing the Demons again.

"We have a lot of options at either end of the court that we can throw around if things aren't quite working on the day," she said.

"We know Horsham are going to come at us really hard. We got the jump on them last time and they weren't expecting it, which probably won the match for us.

"This time they are not going to go in underestimating us, but we know the things we've been practising can work and that they can be beaten."

Ararat's 17 and under season came to a close last Sunday, with the Rats unable to replicate the previous week's performance against Stawell.

The Warriors came from three goals behind at the final change to defeat Ararat in the elimination final 37 to 35.

The Rats started slowly with Stawell jumping out of the blocks to take a three goal lead within the first few minutes of the opening quarter.

Ararat's defensive pressure across the court enabled it to pull that margin back very quickly, with Lucy Mills ever reliable in the centre. She proved instrumental with her creative ball movement and speed across the court.

The Rats were able to take the lead and control most of the game, with some accurate and confident shooting from Georgia Fleming and Maddi Batchelor.

Unfortunately in the dying minutes of the final term Stawell's pressure and some mistakes by the Rats through the centre third gave their opposition the opportunity to nudge in front by the final whistle.

After drawing with the Horsham Saints in their previous encounter, the Rats' 15 and under A team knew they had to hit the court running in last Saturday's qualifying final.

Despite this it took a quarter for Ararat to get any momentum which allowed the Saints to lead by 10 goals in the first quarter.

Joint-coach Brooke Williamson said the lopsided scoreboard was enough motivation the Rats needed to get their heads in the game and the young side fought back and closed the margin to four goals by the main break.

Ararat remained in touch with the Saints during the third quarter, but Horsham fired once again in the final term to run the Rats off their feet.

In the end, Saints (33) came away with an eight goal win over the Rats (25).

"On the day Saints deserved the win, we had too many little mistakes that really shouldn't have happened at all," Williamson said.

"Best on went to Monique Scott, for her fitness and ability to direct play and always be available, and Tayla Borrelli for her accurate shooting and outstanding moving within the ring."

Ararat will now take on Dimboola in Sunday's first semi final another team that the Rats drew with in their previous encounter.

Ararat's 15 and under B side had a few errors caused by nerves early in the qualifying final against the Horsham Saints, however by halftime the Rats had settled to lead 19 to 11.

Ararat continued to build a lead in the second half with Lilly Sewell shooting consistently and opening up the goal circle by leading out every now and again. She also rebounded strongly and was a leader in the attacking end.

Annie Shea provided good support to Sewell under the ring, while the pair was ably assisted by the creative passing of Indie Calvert, who was a strong play maker.

Coach Megan Shea said the 39 to 24 victory was a team effort and the Rats will need to reproduce that tomorrow against the Horsham Demons with a grand final spot on the line.

Heading into the 13 and under elimination final the Rats were as excited as they were nervous, but shook off the pre-game jitters to lead the Warrack Eagles by three goals at quarter time.

The second term saw goalies Sam Briggs and Racquel Scott shooting with plenty of accuracy, while Danielle Segedinski and Jesse Bligh moved the ball beautifully through the midcourt and into attack.

The Eagles, however, managed to edge their way back into the lead by one at the final break.

The fourth term was a high pressure contest, with Rats' defender Sharna Wilson having the better of her opponent, which stopped Warrack's drive into the circle.

The two teams went goal-for-goal as Katelin McDonald and Olivia Carr worked tirelessly in the defensive end, making the Warrak shooters second guess their decisions.

At the final whistle the scores were even, which meant overtime two lots of three minute halves were required to determine a winner.

Coach Kate Bligh said her team battled hard but ultimately fell short by one goal 25 to 24.

"Unfortunately it didn't go our way, but to the girls credit they did not once drop their heads and it was a huge team effort," she said.

"A special mention also has to go to Romy Antonio who rode every bump with the coaches from the sideline.

"A very intense game of netball which I'm sure was easier to play than it was to watch. I am a super proud coach!"