A win for the Cavs punches their ticket to the grand final in two weeks' time at the same venue.

"This is our third grand final appearance in three years," Cavs co-coach Dan Roden said.

"It's absolutely fantastic; that was a nerve-racking game."

It didn't take long for the Cavs to set an aggressive tone early in the game, forcing the Hawks to make tight passes or costly errors.

This was orchestrated by team leader Shelby Miller as well as defender Shannae Heazlewood and centre Piper Sanders, who were able to stretch the Hawks thin in the mid-court.

Hawks star shooter Ashlea Mawer did what she could to stop the Cavs' surge, but keeper Bec Hyland barely gave the sniper supremo an inch in the circle.

Fellow Hawks attacker Kendall Jones also proved her skill on offence by creating space to help Mawer get into prime scoring positions.

Hawks' Courtney Treloar aided in this circle efficiency also, making contested catches and shooting plenty of quality distanced goals.

The ferocity of both teams was on full display from the first quarter, with plenty of fouls and heavy-handed interceptions from both teams.

This heat on the court was palpable indeed, generating a number of stoppages caused by slippery court surfaces.

The Hawks kept their composure to erase the Cavaliers' substantial lead in the second quarter, owed to brilliant circle work from winger Lydia Coote and centre Jamie Symons.

Hawks defenders Issy Maskell and Gemma Poke also did their part in creating turnovers in the Cavs' goal third and keeping the ball away from vaunted shooter Hayley McDougall.

The reigning premiers entered the second half with a six-point lead and momentum on their side, but the Cavs showed no inkling of folding just yet.

Quality work in the goal third from Cavs Estelle Margetts and Miller allowed McDougall to start clawing away at the deficit.

But much like the Cavs did in the first quarter, the Hawks stuck to their assignments and gave little space to the former.

Entering the final turn, the Cavaliers edged out to a lead by playing much like they did in the opening term.

This time, an air of patience coated the side as they took time with passes and virtually eliminated errors.

"I think we showed in the last game, we had that self-belief in the group ... we just have to execute all of those four quarters," Roden said.

"We still haven't done that, to be honest. We executed for three quarters and we left one quarter where we let them back in the game.

"They're [Hawks] a great team, if you drop off just one per cent all of a sudden they have a 10-goal turnaround."

Clutch keeping from Hyland and Monique Dufty pushed Hawks attackers to the brink and sealed the win.

"It changed it, Monique came on and did a fantastic job," Roden said.

"She did a really good shutdown role, she was competitive, she was in the contest, she got some good rebound and interceptions."

The Hawks will play Waratah in an elimination final next weekend.

"We're feeling okay. We've put ourselves in a position that we have another opportunity to get ourselves in the grand final," Hawks coach Kellie Woolnough said.

"Congratulations to the Cavs for going straight through, we have the same destination of where we want to be but a different road."