After another week of BUCS competition, Varsity looks at the standout performers from last Wednesday’s (27/10) round of fixtures.

Blues batter Leicester in badminton

The men’s side travelled to the University of Leicester for their second matchup of the season, thrashing the home team by a scoreline of 1-7.

Co-Captains James Xu and Pranav Santhosh last week (20/10) led Cambridge to an even more dominant result against Loughborough Men’s 4, beating them 8-0 at the University of Cambridge Sports Centre.

The Blues currently sit at the top of Midlands Tier 2B with six points, only dropping one rubbers over their last two games. Next Wednesday (03/11), they will take on long-time rivals Oxford for a fight between league leaders and second place.

Cambridge basketball narrowly bests Nottingham

Cambridge’s men emerged with a tight 74-77 victory over the University of Nottingham in Wednesday evening’s 5pm tip-off, rectifying last week’s (20/10) tough 48-70 defeat to Loughborough.

Vittorio Masina, this season’s Captain, steered his side through what was a nail-biting game. The Blues managed to bounce back following a difficult first quarter, displaying strong levels of teamwork in their second outing of the season. Four different players scored 13+ points - Nils Wachsmuth racked up 17, both Matthew Offeh and Antonio Constantinou posted 16, and Masina grabbed 13 - while everyone on the roster scored at least one point by the full-time buzzer.

Looking ahead to next week (03/11), Cambridge will host Derby in the Midlands Tier 1 division. Like the Blues, the visitors have both won and lost a game, coming against Nottingham and Nottingham Trent respectively.

CUAFC Women dominate Worcester

Following last Wednesday’s opening loss to Nottingham, Cambridge University Association Football Club (CUAFC) Women defeated the University of Worcester 5-1.

Attacker Erin Davies bagged an impressive hat-trick, CUAFC stalwart and ex-President Nia Hall scored a 30-yard screamer, and the team’s performance was capped off by a Worcester own goal that one or two Cambridge players would fancy as their own.

CUAFC also enjoyed an unbeaten day of football, with the Men’s Blues drawing 2-2 against the University of East Anglia and the Falcons smashing Bedfordshire 0-9 to advance in the Midlands Conference Cup, facing Warwick next month (10/11). Cai La Trobe-Roberts took a brace to maintain the Blues’ unbeaten record.

Turning back to the Women, Captain Frances Steele’s side will welcome Nottingham Trent to St. Catherine’s College Sports Ground on Wednesday (03/11), who last time out drew 2-2 with Birmingham.

Triple victory for Cambridge netball

The Blues, Jays, and Swallows all secured wins over Loughborough, Lincoln, and Leicester respectively.

Each team awarded a Most Valuable Player (MVP), with Clodagh Bottomley selected for the Blues, Catherine Allen for the Jays, and Rosa Humphreys for the Swallows.

Blues Captain Millie Quayle sees her side leading the Midlands Tier 2A division with two wins in as many games, while the Jays and Captain Indie Foster tussle in the middle of Tier 2B. The Swallows, directed by Georgia Tooth, compete in Midlands Tier 5B, chasing league leaders Oxford, who they drew 40-40 with in their season opener.

Varsity congratulates all of Cambridge’s clubs on their recent BUCS achievements.