UWC Volleyball Team Named SA Club Champions

UWC has displayed its dominance of volleyball once again - with the University’s ladies team emerging on top at the recent Volleyball South Africa National Club Championship in Johannesburg.

The ladies team beat the University of Pretoria (Tuks) 15-13 in a closely-contested final to claim their fourth national title and become the number one volleyball team in the country. The men’s team narrowly missed out, coming third in a hard-fought contest.

The competition was contested by 14 ladies’ and 22 mens’ teams from around the country. It’s the fourth time the UWC Ladies have won the competition, since they finished  on top in 2002, 2005 and 2016.

To put the cherry on top, the ladies team dominated the competition’s awards ceremony as well - no fewer than four players scooped up special awards for their brilliant performance.

Captain Bejancke Della was named the Most Valuable Player; Madelyn Pushibin was chosen as Best Attacker; Liezle Peterson received the Best Server accolade; and Basetsane Malubane took home the Best Defensive Player award.

Coach Elmien Cloete attributes the team’s success to teamwork, good basics, exceptional skill level and consistency.

“The team is a tight unit who support one another instead of breaking others down. They are also very well-disciplined in that they stick to the game strategy, but are able to adapt quickly should things not work out as planned. ”

Many of UWC’s volleyball players are in the University Sports South Africa National team and might be going to Botswana next month to participate in the Confederation of University and Colleges Sports Associations (CUCSA) Games, and Della has also been selected to represent South Africa at the World University Beach Volleyball Games taking place in Germany in July.