Defending Kenya Volleyball Federation Men’s Premier League champions Prisons maintained their unbeaten run after being awarded a walkover against Administration Police in the fourth leg.
Their main rivals, General Service Unit, however, suffered their first defeat of the season after falling 3-0 to newcomers Nairobi Water, at the Eldoret Polytechnic Grounds, on Friday.
However, GSU struggled to avenge their league defeat to Nairobi Water by beating them 3-1 (25-18, 25-14,25-23,25-23) in the Amaco International Volleyball Tournament, that served off yesterday, at the same venue.
GSU were going to straight sets victory before they committed a number of reception mistakes in the third set allowing the coach the John Mwaniki trained side a way into the tie and to narrow the score to 2-1. But they rebounded positively in the fourth set to win 3-1.
Although coach Gideon Tarus seemed much relieved after the win, he bemoaned his side’s blocks and reception inadequacies for the league loss.
“The league defeat came as a surprise. We didn’t know how Nairobi Water were playing and our changed format somehow affected our performance.
“We concentrated more on blocks and reception. We also started the match on a low note and paid for the mistakes we made,” Tarus told Feverpitch.
“But that is now behind us and we must bounce back in the next league match. For the tournament we are taking one game at a time.
But for his Nairobi Water counterpart Mwaniki, his boys gave their best but fatigue took toll on them.
“We played nine sets against tough teams (GSU, Forest Rangers and Ulinzi Warriors) in one day (yesterday) but in the league what matters is points. This is a youthful team and I am not concerned with the tournament results.
“We might be underdogs, but with time we will give the big teams a run for their money,” said Mwaniki.
In the women category, defending champions Kenya Pipeline’s fringe side overcame Kenya Commercial Bank 3-1(25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 32-30) in another thrilling encounter yesterday.
“Since most of our key players are in national team, we had been underrated but I believe we are still strong and we can retain the title,” said veteran Asha Makuto.
By Rodgers Eshitemi, The Standard