UWC Beach Volleyball Club added another trophy to their cupboard when they won the 2013 University Sport South Africa (USSA) National Institutional Volleyball Championship.

The men’s pair of Leo Williams and Velisa Ntshuntshe, and ladies Kayla-Lee Provins, Bejancke Della and Prudence Layters, clinched the titles after beating the Vaal University of Technology in the closely-contested finals at Clifton Fourth Beach on 27 November. The tournament, hosted by UWC, initially took place at Camps Bay beach for the first two days, but was moved to Clifton due to weather conditions.

It was the second trophy won by the men’s team this year, after winning the Geness Consulting Volleyball South Africa Championship a few months ago for the third successive year. The women’s team on the other hand, has been dominating university beach volleyball in South Africa lately, with both ladies’ teams having contested the final last year. The pair of Della and Layters beat teammates Kudzai Chireka and Ashlynn Carels to win the championships at Margate in KwaZulu-Natal.

Both the men’s and the women’s teams had to dig deep in their final matches to beat their opponents from the north. The home sides won the first sets but lost the second sets, going on to win the closely-contested final set.

UWC coach, Elmien Cloete, was ecstatic about the win and noted that it puts the UWC teams in good stead for the upcoming Varsity Sports Beach Volleyball competition taking place at the same venue, and starting on Friday, 29 November.