Student Cup Finals - Warwick and Oxford claim titles

Contested at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, the weekend started with pool matches which were played to 21, 21, 15 with a golden point at 23 and 17, which led to several extended sets and narrow scorelines across all groups.

In Pool D, Warwick recovered well from an opening defeat to University of Westminster, losing narrowly 2-1 (22-20, 15-21, 15-13). They bounced back with convincing straight-sets victories over King’s College London (21-16, 21-11) and Cambridge University (21-11, 21-16) to secure second place in the group and a quarter-final spot.

Brunel’s Pool C campaign also featured tight moments. After a 2-0 win over Dublin City University (21-12, 21-17), they fell to eventual semi-finalists University of Oxford (21–14, 21–16). However, the London insitution closed out the pool with another straight sets victory over University of Liverpool, highlighted by a close second set (23-22) to progress as runners-up.

Elsewhere in the pools, University of Derby, University College London, Oxford, and Leeds all progressed, with several matches decided by fine margins and extended sets.

The knockout stages moved to a 25, 25, 15 format with no golden point, and both Warwick and Brunel delivered strong performances.

Warwick defeated Imperial College London 2-0 (25-20, 25-22) in a tight contest, while Brunel recorded one of the most notable results of the round, beating University of Derby 2-0 (25-19, 25-19) after Derby had topped Pool A.

Oxford also progressed with a straight-sets win over Leeds, and University College London overcame Westminster to complete the semi-final line-up.

Brunel were pushed the hardest in the semi-finals, edging past University College London (a repeat of last year's final) 2-1 to book their chance to land back to back titles.

Warwick, meanwhile, produced a confident display to defeat Oxford 2–0 (27-25, 25-23), continuing their upward trajectory from the pool stages.

The men’s final saw University of Warwick finish the tournament in style, defeating Brunel University 2-0 (25-18, 26-24) to lift the Student Cup trophy, with Brunel unable to quite repeat last year's success. 

The women's final ulimately saw University of Oxford crowned champions after a dominant weekend, ending University College London’s three-year reign as champions and lifting the trophy for the first time in almost three decades.

Oxford made an immediate statement in Pool A, beginning with a commanding 2-0 victory over Brunel University (21-9, 21-13) before backing it up with wins over Dublin City University (21-18, 21-14) and University College London (21-13, 21-19),  topping the pool without dropping a set.

UCL, last year’s champions, secured progression despite defeats to Oxford and Brunel, while Dublin City University completed the group with a hard-fought 2–0 win over Brunel (22–20, 21–16).

Pool B saw King’s College London advance after victories over Durham University, University of East Anglia, and University of Southampton, with Durham finishing second to also reach the quarter-finals.

In Pool C, University of Nottingham topped the group with three wins from three, including a strong opening 2–0 victory over University of Leeds (21-9, 21-13). Leeds finished second, ahead of Bath and Liverpool to progress.

Pool D proved competitive, with the University of Bristol and Imperial College London advancing. Bristol secured key wins over London School of Economics and England U18, while Imperial also progressed after victories over those same two teams.

Oxford continued their strong form in the qaurter-finals, defeating University of Leeds 2-0 (25-12, 25-23), while Nottingham also progressed comfortably with a 2-0 success over UCL (25-19, 25-18), ending the defending champions’ campaign.

Bristol edged past Durham University 2-1 (26–24, 26–28, 15–11) in one of the tightest matches of the round, while King’s College London advanced with a 2-0 victory over Imperial College London (25–23, 26–24).

The semi-finals delivered two extremely close encounters.

Oxford booked their place in the final with a 2–1 win over King’s College London (25-14, 25-22, 16-14), recovering after dropping the opening set to clinch a dramatic third set.

In the second semi-final, Nottingham overcame Bristol 2-1 (25-15, 25-22, 15-12), reversing the momentum after losing the first set to secure their spot in the final.

The final saw University of Oxford complete an outstanding tournament with a straight sets triumph over University of Nottingham (25-21, 25-14) to lift the Student Cup trophy.

Images by Jon Cornish

All the Student Cup results can be found in full here.