Not for the Warrnambool Mermaids.

A lot has happened in six days, with only six of its 12 players able to hit the floor for its rematch with Melbourne University tonight.

The side will be without Louise McLean (shoulder), Courtney Primmer (elbow), Maddie White (state commitments), Ebony Rolph (state commitments), Carly Pulling (tonsillitis) and Sam Kappl (unavailable).

"It's just that time of year," coach Lee Primmer conceded.

"We're going to be undermanned but in saying that, I think we can still be very competitive and I'm confident we can win the game."

The Mermaids defeated the Black Angels by seven points on Sunday.

Regular contributors Holly Greene and Brooke Rudezky will return for tonight's top-of-the-table encounter at The Arc, where Warrnambool will stick to its game plan despite a lack of personnel.

"I'm happy with what we've been doing," Primmer said.

"It's just going to be whether we can execute it properly or to a degree."

Melbourne University's strength on Sunday was its ability to pull in rebounds.

It grabbed 24 more than the Mermaids.

"They're very big so we have to box out and keep them off the boards," Primmer said.

"They didn't shoot the ball from the perimeter tremendously well last week, whether that was because of our defence or because they had a bad shooting day, I don't know.

"We ran a point zone against them and that seemed to work so we'll throw that in again," the coach added.

Primmer admitted that Louise McLean being sidelined could be a positive as the star would be unavailable for the remainder of the minor round matches.

Next week she is leaving for the United States for a wedding and holiday.

"You can always find a plus in a minus," Primmer said.

"It's not a bad thing because we'll get used to playing without her against a quality team straight away."

Maddison Smedts will fill-in for the Mermaids tonight while a development player will also be used.

Action starts at 6pm.