The University of Stirling has cemented its place at the top of UK student tennis with its men winning the BUCS National Championship – their fourth major title of the season.
Sports scholars Liam Hignett, Nemanja Malesevic, Rob Cowley, Cameron Fryer and Kyle McKay beat the University of Nottingham to lift the coveted trophy at British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Big Wednesday – the climax to the team sport season. The 4-0 victory adds another title to Stirling’s 2025/26 BUCS honours, having already secured the National League, Doubles and Individual Championships – an unprecedented achievement in a single BUCS season.
It came as Shayne Humphries – a University of Stirling athlete and Winning Students 100 scholar – retained the BUCS Mixed Wheelchair Basketball Championship with the University of Nottingham, beating Loughborough 66-58. BUCS allows players to compete for other universities due to the infancy of the sport in the programme.
Across the day, Stirling – Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence – and Stirling Sports Union also won four silver medals in the Women’s National Championship, Men’s National Vase and Men’s National Trophy in tennis, and in the Men’s National Championship in football.
See an image gallery from BUCS Big Wednesday at the bottom of this page, or visit our Flickr site.
Captain Liam Hignett – Player of the Match – celebrates after winning the point that secured the Championship for Stirling.
Cathy Gallagher, Executive Director of Sport at the University of Stirling, said: “It was a great finish to BUCS Big Wednesday with our Men’s First Tennis Team winning the National Championship, adding to their league, doubles and singles titles. The team has dominated at UK university level throughout the season, and their achievements are to be celebrated – congratulations to the players and their coaching and support staff.
“I was also proud to see Shayne Humphries put in an excellent performance to win the Mixed Wheelchair Basketball Championship for the second year in a row.
“As Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence, we were well represented here at BUCS Big Wednesday, and we shouldn’t forget all the teams that competed here today – well done to all and we look forward to getting back here next year.”
Shayne Humphries won gold at BUCS in the Mixed Wheelchair Basketball Final.
The Men’s First Team took on last year’s title winners University of Nottingham in the Tennis National Championship Final. Stirling dominated from the start, with pairings Malesevic and Cowley and Hignett and Fryer winning their doubles matches. McKay put in an impressive performance to win the first of the singles matches just seconds before captain Hignett overcame his opponent to seal victory for Stirling.
Hignett, who was awarded Player of the Match, enjoyed the win – but admitted there were mixed emotions as it could be his last in Stirling green, as he is due to graduate with a BA (Hons) Sports Studies this summer. Speaking after hitting the winning shot, he said: “There are so many happy emotions, but there’s a bit of sadness too because I’m not sure if it’s my last one.
“What a team we have this year, especially with Nemanja coming in; he has been an amazing addition. We all gel so well together, every day we train hard – and this is the end product of the work that we put in, it’s an absolute delight.”
He also paid tribute to Scott MacAulay, Lead Tennis Coach at the University, who was awarded Performance Coach of the Year at the Tennis Scotland Awards 2026. In addition to the National Championship win, MacAulay has also led the Men’s 1s to this season’s BUCS National League title, the Doubles title – with Hignett and Cowley winning, and the Individual Championships title, with Malesevic crowned the best student player in the UK.
Hignett added: “I think we’ve got it right – the atmosphere is brilliant, we all get on well and Scott is a great leader. I think this is the first time that one university has taken all four men’s titles in the same season – and that’s testament to the hard work, leadership and facilities with which the University provides us.”
Unbelievable
Reflecting on the win, MacAulay said: “It was an unbelievable performance – to win it without losing a rubber was great. We’ve had a fantastic year – winning all four titles in the same academic year.
“These guys have shown great dedication to the programme, training every day, in the gym five days a week, playing national and international events away from student competition too. They have put in hard work and dedication and now are reaping the rewards – I’m sure they’ll be celebrating.”
David Bond, Director of Performance Sport at the University of Stirling, said: “Congratulations to our Men’s First Team in tennis and to Shayne on his personal achievement. They’ve worked very hard all year, and it has culminated in them bringing home big wins from Loughborough.
“Having five teams at BUCS Big Wednesday is the greatest representation we’ve ever had there, showing the strength of our high-performance programmes at the University of Stirling.”
Results
In other tennis results, the Men’s 2s narrowly missed out on gold in the National Vase, coming up short in a shootout against Loughborough 2s; while the Women’s 1s lost 4-1 to Loughborough in the National Championship Final and the Men’s 3s were beaten 4-2 by Nottingham 3s in the National Trophy Final.
In football, the Men’s First Team – who this season won BUCS Premier North for the fifth time in six years – were defeated 3-1 by Nottingham. Chris Geddes’ side have an opportunity to bounce back later this week, as they play two further finals – Cumnock Juniors in the South Challenge Cup on March 29 and Heriot-Watt University in the Queen’s Park Shield on April 1.
Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence. Through the powerful and inspirational combination of performance sport, recreational sport, research and education, we are delivering medals on the world stage, improving the health and wellbeing of the nation, and producing the next generation of leaders within sport.
At Stirling, athletes have access to world-class facilities, including a 50-metre pool, a state-of-the-art indoor golf studio, unrivalled outdoor space, and state-of-the-art strength and conditioning suites. In addition to its coaching and facilities, Stirling’s International Sports Scholarship Programme – one of the largest high-performance programmes in the UK – offers athletes funding support, academic flexibility, equipment and kit. It has supported hundreds of athletes since its inception in 1981 – with many competing on the world stage, including at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Core sports include tennis, golf, triathlon, football, swimming, rugby and curling, while individual scholarships cover all Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games sports.
Read more about sports scholarships at the University of Stirling.