Women’s Volleyball and Club Coach Mark Byerley with their gold medals

Sussex ended the sporting season with a clean sweep at BUCS Big Wednesday fixtures this week (21 March), with Women’s Volleyball, Women’s Rugby and Men’s Lacrosse all bringing back gold medals to the University.

One of the most important days of the year for student sports clubs, BUCS Big Wednesday is the culmination of the British Universities & Colleges Sport leagues.

This year, Sussex sent the Women’s Volleyball team to the University of Nottingham to compete against Coventry University for the coveted trophy title.

The Volleyball club has had an outstanding year, with the men's and women’s teams logging a number of victories to become the highest-scoring sports team at Sussex.

The women’s team went in to their match against Coventry confident and dominated the game, winning by three straight sets. Team member Stacey Wong was also awarded the Most Valuable Player title by match officials.

Club captain and Sussexsport Sport Scholar Fanny Weicherding said:

“To win the trophy was the perfect reward for all the hard work the team has put into this season and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve achieved together.

“I’m honoured to have been playing by their side and to see us grow closer and stronger as a team.”

The victory has now set the team up for end-of-season play-offs and a possible promotion to the BUCS Premiere League. Commenting on the team’s performance, club coach Mark Byerley said: “The team has had a great year and have played some impressive volleyball throughout. They are a superb team and work well together to perform at their best.”

Also vying for cup title wins on Wednesday were the Women’s Rugby team and Men’s Lacrosse, who were both playing at the BUCS south east Conference Cup Finals hosted by the University of Surrey.

Women’s Rugby sealed their unbeaten season run with a 37–5 victory against Portsmouth, guaranteeing them promotion. Commenting on a record series of matches for the team, captain Alice Crowe-Wright said:

“We’ve had a great season; not only were we undefeated, we gained promotion and won the cup.

“We faced Portsmouth in the final, which was a tough game - especially in the second half when we were down to 13 players for a while, but the determination and team work of our players managed to secure a 37–5 win.

“We never imagined that we would be so successful!”

Men’s Lacrosse, who are a relatively new club, had tough opponents in the Cup Finals –  competing against the University of Reading for the gold. But they surprised themselves by claiming an 8–3 win. Commenting on the match, Guillaume Hearn  –  who captains the side - said:

“The Cup Final was the hardest game we have ever played. The match was tense and, despite what the score line suggests, it was an incredibly close game.

“Our team played better than I could have ever imagined, particularly considering the amount of new players in the squad.

“By displaying so much passion and heart, we have secured the first Lacrosse Cup Final win in the club’s history. A massive thank you to Sussex Swallows Cheerleaders for coming to Surrey to cheer for us, too. They were absolutely brilliant and kept our spirits up for the whole match.”

Photo credit: Jethro Chow

Three finals, three wins. A summary of the match fixtures and results:

• Women’s Volleyball: Sussex 3–0 Coventry
• Women’s Rugby: Sussex 37–5 Portsmouth
• Men’s Lacrosse: Sussex 8–3 Reading

Get involved in student sports clubs at Sussex by visiting the Students’ Union webpages to find out more.

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