Clash of titans in volleyball final

Malava Boys High School volleyball players blocks an attack from Hospital Hill High School's Eric Kimutai (left) during their Secondary School Games at Kisumu Boys High School , Kisumu County on August 4, 2016.[PHOTO:DENNIS OKEYO/STANDARD]

Champions Malava and AIC Kosirai will today go full throttle as they seek to maintain the status quo in the Airtel Rising Stars Term 2B secondary school game boys and girls’ volleyball final matches at Kisumu Boys.

Malava of Nzoia will lock horns with old foes Cheptil of Mau while Kosirai will be on a revenge mission against newcomers Soweto Academy of Metropolitan who humiliated them in the opening match.

Malava will be out to extend their dominance over Cheptil after beating them 3-1 in their Group B match. Sibling rivalry will also be witnessed as Cheptil’s Dismus Rono and Benard Rono take on their brother Elvis Kimutai of Malava.

Malava captain Abiud Chirchirsaid they respect Cheptil because they are a good side. “We are focused on retaining our trophy. They (Cheptil) are worthy opponents and we have to be at our best to overcome them,” he said.

His Cheptil equal, Micah Lagat said that they will fight tooth and nail as they seek to end the trophy drought. “We will play our hearts out and also hope that luck will be on our side because for the last three years, we’ve been close to winning. It’s an open game and until it’s played and won, we still believe that we can win it,” Lagat said.

En route to the finals, Malava beat Aberdare champions Tetu 3-0(25-20, 25-23 and 25-23) in a tie that lasted one hour and 20 minutes while Cheptil dismissed Lake Region’s Sengera 3-0 (25-16, 25-23 and 25-16) in 56 minutes.

In the girls contest, 22-time champions Lugulu were forced to wait for another year to recapture their crown as they fell 3-1 (28-26, 23-25, 22-25 and 18) to champions Kosirai. Surprise package Soweto on the other hand trounced regulars Sega Girls in straight sets of (25-22, 25-21 and 25-22) to inch closer to winning their maiden title on their debut.