Tyler Rudolph is set to return to the Ballarat Miners line-up as the men's team looks to maintain its place among the elite of the NBL1 South.
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Another double-header looms for the Miners who on Saturday night host Nunawading then travel on Sunday to face Ringwood.
The Spectres have always been a team that matches up well on Ballarat and the ladder positions don't tell just how close this match should be.
The Miners sit third on the table with an 11-4 record, after dropping last Saturday night's match at home to Dandenong by two points.
But Sunday's away win against the odds against the powerful Waverley combination, without their star import in Rudolph, should do wonders for the team's confidence.
Nunawading currently sits 11th on the table with a 8-7 record, but it belies the talent of the team which had a big away win over Frankston last round where they slammed home 34 points in the last quarter to win the game by nine.
The second opponent Ringwood is another team the Miners have always had a healthy amount of respect for, with 'The Rings' one of the toughest away venues to win at.
The Hawks would have been disappointed in last week's result, going down 77-70 against Keilor. In that game, no-one really took control, with Braelen Bridges' 19 points and 10 rebounds the best any of the Hawks could offer.
Ringwood goes into the game with a 6-11 record on the season and will probably need to win out from here in order to have any hopes of moving through to the play-offs.
Like the Hawks in many way, the Ballarat Miners women will also probably have to win out in order to have a chance of making the play-offs.
But with still seven games to go, the team is finally together and the two results last weekend show they are well-and-truly in the mix if they can put it all together.
The pulse will be back in a big way if they can get the job done in both games this weekend.
Opponent on Saturday night Nunawading is at the bottom of the table with a 2-13 record, while Sunday's showdown with Ringwood looms as the key match, given the Hawks currently sit seventh and will be one club who the Miners will be keen to take the position of.
Ringwood last weekend, like its men's team, went down to Keilor by six points. Leading the charge for the Hawks on that occasions was Lana Hollingsworth with 23 points, but the one that has always troubled Ballarat is Digna Strautmane who tends to save her best for when she plays in Ballarat.
Two wins across the weekend could feasibly see the Miners back in the top eight at the conclusion of the round provided other results go their way, but with matches to come against Melbourne (13th), Frankston (9th), Sandringham (3rd), Casey (17th) and Eltham (8th), destiny is in their own hands.
Saturday night matches against Nunawading at Selkirk Stadium get underway at 5.30pm with the women's game with the men's match to tip-off at 7.30pm.
