General Service Unit (GSU) on Sunday bounced back from first day defeat against Ahly to dismiss Rwandese side APR 3-1 in the ongoing men’s Africa volleyball Club Championships in Sousse, Tunisia.
However, Kenya Prisons lost 3-2 to Algeria’s Setif in an epic five-set Pool D clash.
Gideon Tarus’s men started strongly and easily won the first two sets (25-18, 25-13), before APR capitalised on poor reception to clinch the third set and open up the game.
However, like a wounded lion, GSU rebounded positively in the fourth set to win 3-1 and improve their win-loss ratio to 1-1 in two Pool C matches.
But it’s a bitter loss for their fellow countrymen Kenya Prisons, who faltered to a 3-2 set loss against Setif of Algeria in a thrilling two-hour tie-breaker.
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The Kenyan champions got off to a wrong start, losing the first and second sets (25-12, 25-15), but they quickly recovered from the setback to claim the two successive sets (23-25, 21-25) with an impressive right-attacker Ibrahim Oduor scoring 23 points (the competition’s best scoring) to extend the match to tie-break.
But it was the Algerian side that carried the day after winning the fifth set 15-4. Prisons, who had beaten Uganda’s KAVC 3-0 in their opening match, dropped to 1-1 while Setif improved to 2-0.
In other Pool D matches, Somoha of Egypt continued with their winning ways, pulling off an easy victory over Zimbabwe’s Support United 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-7) as Liberia’s Ahly Beni Ghazi overwhelmed KAVC 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-19, 25-21).
Ugandans lose
Competition’s record holders Ahly were too good for Uganda’s Nemostars, beating the East Africans by three straight sets (25-15, 25-13, 25-20) as Bourj Bouarirj from Algeria also crushed comers Espoir (Cote d’ Ivoire) in straight sets 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-12) in Pool C fixtures.
Prisons were due to clash with Somoha last night while GSU were to take on Bourj.
Zamalek of Egypt struggled for 107 minutes to beat FAR of Morocco 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20). After Zamalek was 2-0 ahead, Yannick Shesha led FAR to a come back where he served and attacked from the front and back lines scoring 20 points that aided his team to win the third set before Zamalek stars used their experience to settle the game to their side in the fourth set. Zamalek improved to 2-0, while FAR dropped to 1-1.
Defending champions Esperance of Tunisia cruised past Alnahda of Sudan 3-0 (25-16, 25-13,25-18) to overcome the stress of losing their opening match against Zamalek. Elias Garfi was the key factor of the victory with his 20 points scored that put him as match scorer. Esperance improved to 1-1, while Nahda dropped to 0-2.
Swehli of Libya rebounded from the opening loss to beat Cameroon’s giants FAP 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20) and improved to 1-1. FAP also dropped to 1-1.
