The Mermaids are on the road this weekend for the grand final best-of-three series opener, which Davis has stressed to his players is a must-win.

Warrnambool found out in the semi-final how it felt to drop game one - its first and only loss of the season.

"I think the girls will come out very, very hard," Davis said of tomorrow's match against Altona.

"We've learnt that we have to come to play and enjoy what we do.

"We are not walking out of there without a win.

"To me, this game sets the tempo for the series.

"If we come away with the win, we won't have any sleepless nights next week thinking about having to get back-to-back wins next weekend."

The Mermaids have scored a season double against the Lady Gators, winning 82-66 in round seven and 75-68 in round 17.

Davis cited three Altona players which Warrnambool is focused on shutting down - Stacey Barr, Sharon Grieve and Louise Johnston.

"Stacey has been averaging 26 or 27 points maybe the last six or seven games," Davis said.

"She's got a great motor and just keeps going and going and going.

"We'll be looking at making her work extra hard and containing her scoring a little bit."

Captain Holly Greene will match up on Barr.

"We went through a couple of different things tactically at training on how to help Holly out," Davis said.

Katie O'Keefe will aim to curb the influence of Altona playing coach Grieve, which she has done effectively the previous two encounters this season.

"Louise is their centre and had been a bit down on form but she's six foot three and can challenge our girls," Davis said.

"I'm looking forward to Kate Sewell continuing her form from last week and Alana (Jones) will also be getting in the game this week."

Jones was one of three Mermaids who did not get any court time in last Sunday's tussle with Warrandyte.

"The girls who didn't get a run last week will be in the game this week because we match up differently with Altona," Davis said.

The coach believed with a light training on Thursday, Warrnambool had recovered from last weekend's demanding double header.

Grieve told the Big V website that the Lady Gators would be paying close attention to O'Keefe.

"Katie is their main player, she is the leader of the group, not necessarily in scoring but just a great leader that pulls the team together," she said.

Tomorrow's tip-off is 1pm at Altona Sports Centre.