Two of Bournemouth University’s sports teams competed in national finals, one of which was attended by HRH Princess Anne.

BU’s Men’s Volleyball and Men’s Football both competed in this week’s British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) national finals.

The Men’s Volleyball 1st team met Sheffield Hallam in the final after an impressive season, having won the Southern Premiership and the Volleyball England Student Cup. A National Final was the cherry on the top.  HRH Princess Anne was in attendance at the match and after a meet-and-greet courtside, both teams were up for the contest in front of a sizable crowd.

Sheffield started strong taking the first set but BU bounced back levelling the score to 1-1. A closely fought third set went to the wire with BU missing out on a few opportunities to push ahead when Sheffield finished on a strong run with serve making them 2-1 up.

The fourth set was closely fought until BU were unlucky with a line judge call which swayed the momentum and frustrated the BU squad. Sheffield took full advantage of this and had a good run of points that saw an incredible exchange of shots and diving pickups by both teams. The match ended with a score of 1-3 to Sheffield Hallam, clinching the national title.

BU Men’s Football 1st team were up against Leeds Beckett in the their final where a strong start from BU saw Leeds Beckett under pressure with several chances to take the lead going wide of the posts.

Midway through the first half Leeds regained control and began to capitalise on their strength and height by using long throws, set pieces and corners that paid off, gaining them two goals in the space of 15 minutes.

Early in the second half Leeds scored with a curled shot from 25 yards into the top corner of the net, putting them ahead by three. Bournemouth bounced back with a goal shortly after, followed by a Leeds player being sent off. With only 15 minutes remaining BU made use of the extra man and had several chances to score but to no avail with the game ending in a 3-1 defeat.

Michael Barry, Varsity Manager at SportBU, commented on the events, “Both results mark a fantastic achievement for Bournemouth University. Each team has raised the bar on previous performances and should be very proud of their BUCS Silver Medals.”

“All BU students from both teams have shown real dedication this season to get this far and have put BU on the map with the top sporting institutions in the country. We would like to thank all the coaches and staff who supported these teams and to our opponents for two great matches.”

Originally published on BU News.