UP-Tuks took to the court against the University of the Free State (UFS) in their first Varsity Netball encounter for 2016. This was set to be one of the most thrilling games of the tournament. Both sides have faced each other in various netball tournaments. UFS has won the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League every year since its inception and UP-Tuks has won the USSA tournament for the past three years. It was definitely a battle worth watching.

At the end of the first quarter, the teams were tied at 13-all with neither willing to give the other the opportunity to get too far ahead. At half-time, it wasn't looking great for UP-Tuks as they were trailing by four points at 25–21. However, in the second half UP-Tuks surged ahead, making use of both power-plays – one from each team. UFS failed to get any points during the power-plays and the third quarter ended with UP-Tuks in the lead with the score at 38–33. In the fourth quarter, UP-Tuks clinched the win with a convincing final score of 62–41 in their favour.

Vice-captain and BCom (Agricultural Business Management) student Tshinakaho Mdau was awarded FNB Player of the Match for her enterprising performance on court. Ms Mdau said: ‘We won together. It was tough in the beginning as we made a lot of mistakes which UFS used to their advantage, but we stayed in it and played like a team. To quote Helen Keller: "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." We stuck together until the end, giving us our much-deserved win.'