Dream start for National Youth Talent Academy

By Oscar Pilipili

National Youth Talent Academy (NYTA) made a dream start in Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) women’s division one league by winning their maiden match during the first leg of the competition in Kericho.

NYTA beat City Council of Nairobi 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-21) in an epic encounter to show maturity in top-flight volleyball.

The team was assembled last December under talent development initiative funded by United Nations Childrens Fund and the Government for out-of-school youth.

Their achievement in the league will encourage the youngsters to perform even better in future competitions, as per the words of captain Tarus as she said: "People though we’ll be the whipping girls of the league but we shall show them that we’re equal to the task. The team is in high spirits following the positive results and we expect to record even better results in next fixtures."

But NYTA must work extra hard to match big girls of volleyball among them national champions Kenya Pipeline and African queens Kenya Prisons who play in the same division one league.

The first leg of the league started on cracking pace with favourite teams winning respective matches at Kericho Day High School over the weekend.

Seven women’s teams participated in the competition and Ulinzi were the notable absentees in the opening round of seven-round league.

Four-set thriller

Pipeline dropped an important set after they beat a revamped Nairobi Water 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 25-16) in a four-set thriller that lasted one hour 25 minutes.

Pipeline enjoyed the services of setter Rhodah Lyali and Asha Makuto who are back ton action after recovering from injuries they sustained last year.

Prison, who lost the title to Pipeline last season, won their first match beating Stima Nyeri with straight sets of 25-16, 25-14, 25-20 to reap maximum points.

The wardresses showed their intention of recapturing the title they lost to Pipeline last year after they saw off Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 25-13) to managed second straight victory in the league.

Prisons appeared to struggle following the absence of key players among them Bracksides Agala, Jane Wacu, Esther Mwombe and Judy Tarus but coach David Lung’aho effectively utilised available arsenal to see off opponents.

Although big guns avoided each other in the league fixtures, they came face to face in the Mutai Enterprises tournament where they clashed in the final.

General Service Unit beat Prisons 3-1 (25-19, 25-27, 25-20, 25-20) to underline their status as volleyball kings in Kenya.

In women’s category, Prisons overcame Pipeline 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22) in the final to lift Mutai Enterprise kings.

Cheptil Centre of Excellence were crowned schools champions in the girls’ category while their (Cheptil) boys team lost 0-3 sets against Co-operative Bank in divisions two final.