UL descends on Cape Town for volleyball tourney

LIMPOPO – THE University of Limpopo (UL) descended on Cape Town last Tuesday brimming with confidence ahead of the highly entertaining Varsity Beach Volleyball tournament.

The tertiary institution’s Turfloop campus is represented by the grand duet of Charity Baloyi (23) and Maureen Mnisi (22) who have already acquitted themselves as reckonable forces in the game.

The pair has steamrolled its way into this competition by eliminating reputable giants like University of Johannesburg and Tshwane University of Technology.

Baloyi and Mnisi will be backed by Motlatjo Lefophane in a double act format of beach competition.

Like Baloyi, super-substitute Lefophane is a dependable player who has one of the greatest serves and smashing hand.

However, coach Jacob Thamaga plans to start his game plan with the artistic pair of Baloyi and Mnisi.

Thamaga has identified defending champions, University of Western Cape as their chief threat in the tournament.

Ahead of this tournament, Thamaga was in high spirits, citing the high level of experience and depth in his team.

“I am taking the best shining minds in beach volleyball to this tournament. The players I am going to rely on in the starting line-up have an impressive track record and that will definitely boost their confidence.

Baloyi was part of the Limpopo provincial team during the National Beach Volleyball Tournament (NBVT) in 2014 and has also played at the Indoor Volleyball National Club Championships (VNCC) in the same year.

Like Baloyi, Mnisi has also featured in last year’s edition of the NBVT as well as in the VNCC and the Inter Provincial Tournament.

UL are in the Mother City for this grueling tourney that also features the host side, University of Cape Town, University of Free State, University of Pretoria, Vaal University of Technology and UWC.

The tournament, which was last staged in 2013 at the University of Durban, is played under the auspices of University Sports of South Africa.