Cheptil and Kwanthanze rule in volleyball

By Oscar Pilipili

Cheptil boys and Kwanthanze girls’ volleyball teams achieved victories during the second day of East African Secondary Schools Games in Bujumbura, Burundi.

Whereas it was an easy ride for Kwanthanze, Cheptil were forced to use every ounce of their energy to cruise past a strong Burundian team Saint Luk in a five set thriller which the Kenyans won 3-2 (19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11).

Cheptil, who are defending champions, started the match on low key and Luk scored quick points to bag the set during this boys’ volleyball contest.

Parading some of the most promising players in Kenya like Sila Kipruto, Cheptil improved their attacks and blocks to win the second set 25-17 and claimed 2-0 advantage with 25-22 victory in the third set.

Luk, playing before home fans capitalised on Cheptil’s weak blocks and errors to win the fourth set and push the match into tie-breaker.

Three successive points by Cheptil saw the Kenyans take 3-0 lead in opening minutes of the deciding set and maintained the tempo to remain ahead 8-6 at change of courts.

 Lost match

Hospital Hill hopes of advancing to the next round faded after they lost their second consecutive match of the tournament, going down 0-3 (25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 18-25, 19-17) against Uganda’s Butare an epic five setter display.

Hospital Hill lost their opening match of the tournament when they went down 3-1 sets to Cheptil on Sunday.

Mukumu made a dream debut in the Championships when they beat Kamenge of Burundi 3-1 sets in their opening match.

Impressive results

In girls’ category, Kwanthanze recovered from 3-1 sets defeat they suffered against Cheptil on opening day to beat Lycee of Burundi 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-5) in a one-sided match at Saint Espirit College.