Imperial’s Volleyball club is served sweet sucess this year

The start of the year already hinted at a great volleyball season to come; with over 120 people attending the taster session and a record-high membership of 87.

After an absence of two years, the women’s BUCS team returned to the first division for the 2014-15 season. Throughout the season the women’s team had a solid performance even when it was at times a struggle. An example being the away match vs Kent University, for which, due to illnesses and work deadlines, the team travelled with only the bare minimum of six players (our libero having to play opposite).

Not having the luxury of substitutes, the 5-set match left the players exhausted. Even though it was a 3-2 loss our players should be proud of the fight they put up in this extremely close match. By the end of the season, the IC women’s BUCS team took the third place in the league, only below the well-deserved first place for University of East London and second place for University College London. The final league standings only confirm that the team deserved the promotion to first division.

The men’s BUCS team looked promising with a number of returning players as well as new high-level recruits. The men were on course for a promotion to the Premier League, having only lost their away match to Portsmouth.

All hopes were therefore placed on the Portsmouth home match as a win would have resulted in a first place in the league and a promotion play-off match. Unfortunately, the great success the men were achieving in their Trophy competition, meant clashes with league matches and much rescheduling, ultimately resulting in the men’s team having to play three crucial matches in the final week of the BUCS season.

The home match against Portsmouth ended up having to be played in a training slot and with some challenging circumstances the men’s team were unfortunately unable to reach their full potential, losing 3-1 to a strong Portsmouth.

Regardless of the disappointment of not getting first position in the league the men were determined to come away with a win for the BUCS Trophy competition. Throughout the Trophy knockout matches the men remained undefeated, not even losing a single set.

Overcoming many worries and uncertainties about the Final in Loughborough (the match being on a Tuesday in the final week of term(!)), the whole team eventually made it to the final match.

Specially thanks to the support of Sport Imperial who were instrumental in ensuring player availability and transport. The result speaks for itself, the BUCS men became BUCS Trophy Champions in an impressive performance in a match of just under an hour, defeating Northumbria 2nd 3-0 (25-16, 25-8, 25-13).

Besides the competitive success, the Club had many other greats and firsts this season expanding our reach as a club beyond the volleyball community at Imperial. ICVC introduced charity matches, raising money on two occasions for the charities Prostate Cancer and MAG (Mines Advisory Group) respectively.

The Club also had numerous mixed training sessions including friendly mixed tournaments, always with chocolate prizes!

Food is also generally the focal point at our socials, having many skilled cooks and bakers among our members, bringing dishes such as tiramisu, spanakopita, lemon cheesecake, brownies and much more home-made goodness.

Following on from this year, we cannot wait to see what next season brings!