Scoreboard

Water Polo

Men's and Women's National Leagues

Men: Sydney University Lions 6 (Alastair Visch 2, James Young, Scott Nicholson, Jeremy Davie, Lachlan Hollis goals) d University of Western Australia Torpedoes 5 (Kistamas Zsolt, Brad Mercer, Sasha Kovalenko, Joseph Balczer, Tom Jasper) at UWA Pool.

Sydney University 7 d Balmain Tigers 6 at Peter Montgomery Pool, Sydney University Sport and Fitness Centre.

Women: Sydney University Lions 16 (Alicia Brightwell 5, Gabby Wickman 3, Keesja Gofers 3, Casey Bowry 2, Alex Boyd, Melissa Hammond, Samara Davie goals) d UWA Torpedoes 5 (Matil Connor 2, Georgina Kovacs, Maggie Earl, Cathryn Earl, Jenna Sanders) at UWA Pool.

Balmain 10 d Sydney University 6 at Peter Montgomery Pool, Sydney University Sport and Fitness Centre.

Cricket

Sydney Grade competition - Round 14

First Grade: Parramatta 8(dec)-245 (Adam Turrell 65, Brenton Cherry 45, Luke Forbes 37, Michael Wood 28; Tom Keirath 3-76, Ian Moran 2-59) d Sydney University 226 (Tom Keirath 50, Josh Toyer 34 not out, Liam Robertson 30, Will Hay 26; Anthony Marr 3-59, Michael Wood 2-41, Daniel Jackson 2-45, Ben Martin 2-59) and 1-41 (Mark Faraday 23 not out) on the first innings at Sydney University No.1 Oval. Toss: Parramatta. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Parramatta 6, Sydney University 0.

Second Grade: Sydney University 7(dec)-351 (Michael Culkoff 130 not out, Adam Theobald 92, Tim Ley 69 not out; James Parkinson 5-59, Luke Dempsey 2-50) d Parramatta 113 Michael Culkoff 7-25, Tim Ley 2-38) and 6-230 (Nicholas Bertus 89, Matt Windred 87; Shashi Keshar 2-45) on the first innings at Old Kings Oval. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Sydney University 6, Parramatta 0.

Third Grade: Sydney University 226 (Jack Hammond 56, Suda Sivapalin 52, Matthew Gregory 38, Ken Huckle 26; Steve Karam 3-33, Peter Freney 3-57, James Pike 2-49) d Parramatta 195 (Luke Trudgett 52, Steve Karam 40, Ben Abbott 31, Tim Fragogianis 26 not out; Alasdair Grant 3-28, Dave Jessup 2-19, Brendon Smith 2-23) on the first innings at Sydney University No.2 Oval. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Sydney University 6, Parramatta 0.

Fourth Grade: Parramatta 187 (Mark Ward 53, Scott Copperfield 32 not out, Ankur Patel 31; Kerrod McPherson 5-23, Josh Lawrence 2-30) d Sydney University 132 (Kerrod McPherson 33 not out, Josh Lawrence 23; Shane Cassell 4-32, Scott Copperfield 2-16, Jonathan Brayshaw 2-29) on the first innings at Merrylands Oval. Toss: Parramatta. Batted first: Parramatta. Points: Parramatta 6, Sydney University 0.

Fifth Grade: 7(dec)-285 (Jim Kazaglis 73, Benjamin Peacock 53 not out, Aaron Khongwar 36, Angus Glynne 34 not out) v Parramatta 48 (Virosh Poolasangandrum 4-2, Angus Glynne 3-11,Jim Kazaglis 2-10) and 7-204 (Jahangir Jadoon 97, Luke McNaught 60; James Rodgers 3-19) on the first innings at St Paul's College Oval. Toss: Parramatta. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Sydney University 6, Parramatta 0.

Poidevin-Gray Shield - Semi-final

Penrith 1-191 (Jarryd Blake 91 not out, Tim Cummins 72 not out) d Sydney University 9-188 Ben Larkin 89 not out, Chris Jones 41; Max McNamara 5-21) at Howell Oval. Penrith to meet St George in final.

Nikita Cuffe

profilepic_cuffe One of the most decorated members of the Sydney Uni Lions Water Polo side, Nikita Cuffe will be leading the Australian charge for gold in Beijing at her third Olympics. Originally from Queensland, Nikita completed her undergraduate studies at Griffith University before deciding to further her education at Sydney Uni, becoming a member of the Lions in the process.

A water polo player since the age of 13, Nikita played for her school, Brisbane Girls Grammar, in the Queensland League, and made her first state team at just 14. A 19 year old Nikita was in the Australian side which won the 1999 World Junior Championships in Messina. On the strength of her performance in that tournament, Nikita was a reserve for the gold-medal winning Australian side in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The next year she stepped up to become a fully fledged member of the national team which placed fifth at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

In 2002 Nikita was the leading goal scorer and MVP of the National titles, and cemented her place as a permanent fixture in the national Senior side. She was also part of the team that took home the Commonwealth Gold medal from the games in Manchester.

In Athens Nikita made her competitive Olympic debut, as the team finished an agonizing fourth and relinquished their Olympic title. In 2005 and 2007 the national side won bronze and silver respectively at the World Championships, with Nikita and her team mates no doubt eager to continue that upward progression at the Olympics.
A veteran of 166 international matches, Nikita captained the national side in 2006 and will one of the senior squad members in Beijing.

Cuffe was a member of the Women's Water Polo Team, which won bronze with a nail-biting marathon victory over Hungary. The teams were tied at 11-all after four quarters of regulation time and two overtime periods before Australian goalkeeper Emma Knox blocked the final shot of the shoot-out, clinching the win in the bronze medal play-off. The medal was an improvement on the team's fourth place finish in Athens, where Cuffe also participated. She also hinted that the bronze medal playoff would be her last game, after three Olympic campaigns.

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