Five pennants for Winged Victory

The week of Unisport Nationals is one that students eagerly anticipate all year long. Then it comes, and the tournament-style play makes the days feel long. Before you know it, the week has passed, and students are left wishing it hadn't gone so fast.

While the motivation behind attending Nationals may differ depending on who you ask, the overall premise remains; it is a week of sport and fun. Universities from around Australia gather in one place; this year, it was the Gold Coast, and students compete in different sports.

In 2025, the University of Melbourne had 269 student-athletes participate in 30 different teams across 21 sports.

Of those 21 sports, the University of Melbourne won an impressive five Gold, one Silver, and two Bronze medals in the team sport events.

To start the week off, Fencing had success in both the Men's and Women's competition, winning seven medals in total across the individual and team events. This was followed by Kendo, which saw three individual medals won, and Taekwondo, where the men and women finished second overall with 41 medals between them.

The first of the team sport champions was the Lacrosse 5's mixed team, who have had an incredible three-peat at Uni Nationals, setting the standard high for years to come. Winning their first three games by ten or more, it appeared a no-brainer that they would go all the way; however, a loss to RMIT would see them have to fight extra hard. They did, winning their next four, including getting revenge on RMIT in the Grand Final 15-9.

Next up, it was the Sailing Open's team who were crowned back-to-back champions. On the second day of competition, the team dropped from first to third, forcing them to dig deep and get through UNSW and UTAS in the final series to retain the championship.

The men's Hockey team didn't lose a game in their quest to win Gold, other than a draw in their third contest. That was against Curtin University in the pool stage, before they had a second chance, facing them again in the Grand Final. This time they took the win 1-0.

The men's Basketball team improved on their 2024 performance, where they won Bronze. Finishing on top of their pool, they first beat Adelaide University, before taking on Monash University, the same team they lost to in last year's semi-final. This year, however, they were able to take the win 50-45 and secure a chance at winning Gold, which they did triumphantly, blowing out Macquarie University 111-52.

The Volleyball men's team was undefeated all the way to the end; they won five out of their six games without dropping a set. They then advanced successfully through the Quarter Final and Semi Final, before being victorious in the Grand Final 2-1 against UTS.

Overall, it was a successful week, not just on the court, but off the court too, with no doubt many friendships being formed and memories made.

Please see below a full list of results. You can also see more photos on Instagram here.