Sport in Brief – UK bronze for UCC ladies | Matthew O’Callaghan, Stephen Barry and Tommy Hannigan

Ultimate Frisbee: After winning the chance to be the only Irish varsity squad to enter UK nationals, UCC ladies team took Cardiff by storm, comfortably winning all of their pool matches on Saturday by beating high calibre colleges such as Sussex and Nottingham. Sunday brought a victory over Haze Ultimate in UCC’s quarter-final. However, the team lost in a hard fought semi-final on a score-line of 5 – 4 against Aberdeen.The ladies did not get discouraged, and with one match left to determine who would take 3rd place in the tournament, UCC went on to face Edinburgh University’s ‘Ro Sham Bo.’ The squad took a comfortable early lead, going 3 – 0 up after the first 10 minutes. Keeping the pressure on against the Scottish team, UCC slammed home 4 more points, conceding only 1 themselves, to end the game 7 - 1. UCC ladies complete a tremendous indoor varsity season having finished 3rd in UK and 1st in Ireland. MOCBasketball: UCC won the Men’s National Fresher Intervarsity title with a 40-35 final victory over DIT in Carlow IT. Ultimately the platform for their victory was set in the first half as they built up a ten point buffer which the Dublin college could only halve by the final buzzer. Tournament MVP, Ryan Murphy top scored with 12 for UCC, as he did in their semi-final against CIT which went to overtime before UCC edged it, 42-41. In the ladies competition, UCC came out the wrong side of a remarkable triple overtime against eventual winners UCD, 41-38.Meanwhile the previously unbeaten UCC Demons had to endure a nightmare fortnight. It began with a trip to UL Eagles who held Demons to 12 points in the first quarter and led by that margin by the half. Demons did rally to reduce the deficit to four before the new table toppers regained their composure to close out an 83-72 win. However, Demons responded to this loss with another, against a rebuilding Killester side last Saturday. Despite the fact that all of the game’s top four scorers were wearing Demons’ shirts, Killester’s cocktail of youth and experience had a greater scoring spread which combined for an 85-77 shock victory. SBGAA: While managers will be taking positives from their various league campaigns, it hasn’t been a particularly successful league for UCC. The Fresher hurlers have a chance to rectify that this Wednesday in Mallow when they face Limerick IT in an eagerly awaited decider; the teams drew in their earlier group stage encounter.On the other hand, UCC GAA players have received plenty of individual acclaim in recent months. Among the current UCC students to receive Reardens GAA All-Stars for their performances in the Cork County championships were Alan Cronin (Nemo Rangers) and Kevin Davis (O’Donovan Rossa) in football, and hurlers Diarmuid Lester (Bishopstown) and Darren McCarthy (Ballymartle). Meanwhile the path for their various Sigerson and Fitzgibbon campaigns will be laid on the 12^th of the month, when the championship draws will be made in Croke Park. SBSoccer: UCC will face NUIG in their Collingwood Cup opener for the second year in a row, having also defeated the Tribesmen two years ago in the final. A potential quarter-final awaits them against Trinity or Queens. Reigning champions and favourites, UCD are on the other side of the draw, but UCC would most likely have to overcome fellow heavyweights Maynooth or DCU to secure a place in the final. In the Fresher competition, the Harding Cup, UCC drew Trinity in the quarter-final. Both competitions will be hosted by Ulster Universities, with Jordanstown hosting the Collingwood in late February, just over a fortnight after Coleraine hosts the Harding. SBVolleyball: The UCC men's and women's volleyball teams travelled to Belfast to compete against the best from the Republic and Northern Ireland recently. Our presidents, Lisa "Molar" Roseman and Jay "Big" Wang, and captains, Maggie "No" Wood and Walter "Giggity" Messina, led both the Pirates and the Wenches to the semi-finals. The lads defeated UCD in two sets (despite injuries to Justus' ankle and Tommy's liver), but lost to Queens University in the semis in two sets. The Wenches also beat someone in the playoffs, but lost their semi-final in two close sets. All the teams capped the weekend off with a nice and respectful dinner Saturday night… NOT we all got sloppy, it was fun! TH