Stirling fencers show their metal to claim BUCS Trophy

The University of Stirling women’s fencing team made history this past week as they defeated Cardiff University to win the BUCS Trophy at the National Finals event in Nottingham.

In a dramatically tight affair, the Stirling team defeated their Welsh counterparts 128-127 to claim the University’s first ever British title.

The victorious team included Faye Perry, Chloe Campbell, Nenah Verkaik and Mila Maina.

Despite the long journey and an early start, the students put in a fine performance, winning the sabre section 45-38 and the foil 45-44 after a thrilling comeback by Mila. While there was a 38-45 loss in the epee, the team secured the required 37 points to take the win and cement their place in Stirling student sporting history.

Commenting on the achievement, club president and team captain, Nenah Verkaik said: “Most BUCS teams have at least one person who is specialised in one of the weapons. For our team, we are inconveniently all specialised on the same weapon, foil. So, we've had to train especially hard on the other two weapons to compensate, while also keeping up our skill on foil.

“It’s an incredible achievement for the team and I’m very proud of how everyone performed.”

Scottish Student Sport Conference Finals

The fencers’ success was just the preamble for a host of additional Stirling achievements as there were five more titles won at the Scottish Student Sport Conference Finals in St Andrews.

Both the men’s and women’s volleyball sides won their respective Scottish Conference Cups with victories against University of Strathclyde and Robert Gordon University.

There were nail-biting finishes for the women’s hockey 1st XI and women’s football 2^nd XI as they won their Cup finals on penalties against opponents from University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University. The men’s tennis 4^th team wrapped up a successful event for Stirling as they also defeated their counterparts from Robert Gordon University to lift the Cup.

The women's hockey team held their nerve to beat Aberdeen and claim the Scottish Student Conference Cup.