Prisons, GSU extend reigns after Kasarani KVF playoffs
Kenya Prisons women’s team look set to dominate the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) women’s scene as they won this year’s title, for the second gong in a row.
After wins against Kenya Pipeline and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Prisons and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) met in the tournament decider with the former winning by straight sets. Pipeline beat DCI 3-0 for third place.
In a similar fashion, General Service Unit (GSU) retained their title, for a third straight gong, after beating Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) by straight sets in the decider match played yesterday.
Fielding the same team that has started for him in this championship, Prisons’ coach Josp Barasa remained calm even as his charges trailed at the first and second technical timeouts (TTO) in the first set at 8-6 and 16-11. The set ended 25-22 in Prisons’ favour.
Barasa’s charges led 8-2 and 16-10 in the second set. Their experience played a big role in picking easy points against the opponents as they went on to win the set 25-19.
The eventual winners had a slim two-point lead in the first TTO which they extended to six in the second one. KCB attempted a comeback that led to a rally from 21 points with KCB losing 25-23.
Gallant fight
“Experience and hard work won the title for us. From the first match, it was a very tough competition and there was no outright winner, we had to work for it. We shift our focus to Africa club championship after a short break where we hope to leave a mark,” said Barasa.
His opposite number, Japheth Munala, lauded his charges for the effort against an experienced side yesterday and throughout the competition.
“I am proud of my players for the galant fight. We had the intention of creating a third force in women volleyball and fighting for the title and it has worked.
The competitiveness witnessed in this championship is healthy, especially for the national team. We have a larger pool of players to chose from with youngsters proving themselves worthy of the national team call-up,” said Munala.
On their part, GSU dominated the first set to win 25-19. KPA led in the first TTO of the second set by one point but GSU recovered to led 16-13 in the second TTO and for the second set to end 25-21 in their favour.
Despite KPA leading in both TTO’s of the third set, at 8-7 and 16-14, they lost the set 25-23 to finish the tournament in second place and book a place at the Africa Club championship for the first time.
Kenya Prisons men beat Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) 3-0 for third place. Joel Musyoka scored in the 14th minute for home team Shabana while Douglas Mokaya equalised for the visitors 20 minutes from time.
At Bukhungu Stadium, hosts Vihiga Bullets beat APS Bomet 2-0 while FC Talanta and Modern Coast Rangers tied 1-1 at Thika Stadium.
