Life's A Beach For Northumbria Stars

Northumbria University made waves at the inaugural BUCS Beach Volleyball event winning double gold on the Dorset sands.

The top seeded Tynesiders added two silvers to an impressive haul in Poole following four weeks of intensive training in the North East.

And delighted head coach Dave Goodchild paid tribute to his student squad and the invaluable contribution of S&C coach Tom Walton.

“I have to say that the success we achieved in this event was down to the level of dedication the players have shown in the past month,” said the Northumbria playcaller.

“They were up at 7am three times a week - often cycling to the beach from Newcastle - to get in as much practice as possible.

“And Tom was there to put them through their paces and work on the partnerships in time for the tournament.

“It was a real team effort and we came away with our reputation as Britain’s best volleyball university intact.”

Jurja Vlasic and Sarah Blomgren set the ball rolling with a brilliant run of results in the women’s championship. The experienced Super 8s duo didn’t drop a set on their way to the final and completed the job with a 2-0 win against the University of London’s Royal Holloway to clinch gold.

Team mates Magda Ropiak and Whitney Phillips - with a combined 13 years’ Team Northumbria service under their belts - followed suit to clean up in the women’s trophy. A 24-22, 21-13 win against the University of Derby in a thrilling final brought down the curtain on the duo’s fantastic Sport Central careers.

In the men’s championship event Seain Cook and Dan Starkey narrowly missed out on the BUCS beach title following a three-set thriller against Bournemouth University.

The Northumbria pair lost 21-15, 17-21, 15-12 in an epic clash that ebbed and flowed from start to finish.

Fellow TN duo Alex Ukkelberg and Liam Jenkinson - the latter heading into the event with the bare minimum of beach experience - exceeded expectations to take silver in the men’s Trophy.

Northumbria’s Mike Feterlich and Kieran Sowden finished fourth in the Trophy after they were knocked out by team-mates Ukkelberg and Jenkinson in a nailbiting semi-final.

“It was a fantastic weekend all round,” added Goodchild. “Eight players went down early and trained with GB star Kirk Pitman in Bournemouth and that was a great experience for all concerned.

“As it was the first BUCS Beach Volleyball event I’m not sure if anyone knew what to expect.

“But we went there as favourites due to our indoor record and we dealt with that pressure really, really well.”