The UWC Beach Volleyball team had not lost a single match since the inaugural tournament which they won last year, but the pair of Bejancka Della and Prudence Layters had to sweat it out to win 37-36 in an entertaining clash in front of an enthusiastic and outspoken crowd.

It was the second trophy won by the UWC girls within a week, after they defended their University Sport South Africa (USSA) National Institutional Volleyball Championship for a second successive year at the same venue on Wednesday 27 November. In that competition, both the men’s and women’s teams beat the Vaal University of Technology in the finals.

In the Varsity competition, UWC started strongly and built up a good lead in windy conditions, but UJ never gave up and fought back until the last whistle.

In addition to claiming the main trophy, UWC dominated the individual awards as well, taking three out of the four accolades on offer. Prudence Layters took the Cell C Best Defence award, Kayla-Lee Provins was the Steers Most Valuable Player, and Bejancke Della was named the FNB Player of the Tournament.

UWC coach, Elmien Cloete, admitted that it was a “nerve-wracking” final because the opponents put her team under immense pressure. However, a combination of experience (the UWC girls are playing together for a second year), weather conditions (the UWC team is used to the wind) and skill helped her team to emerge victorious, she said.

The win, Cloete added, puts the UWC team in good stead for the South African National Beach Championships to be hosted in Durban in few weeks time. Meanwhile, despite UWC’s Freddie Muller being named FNB Player of the Tournament, earning him R1000, his team were beaten 20-10 by the North West University Pukke in the plate section of the Varsity Sevens tournament, also held at Camps Bay on Sunday.