Volleyball: Prisons out, General Service Unit inch closer to CAVB event quarters

By  Oscar Pilipili

GSU’s Bernard Musumba in action.

Kenya Prisons are out of contention at the 2014 CAVB Men’s African Clubs Championships in Sousse, Tunisia.

General Service Unit (GSU) have chances of advancing to the last eight stage,  should they beat hosts Esperance in their last pool match that was scheduled for yesterday.

Prisons completed their group fixtures on three points that placed them in position four in the five-team Pool “D” of the competition.

Prisons lost their final group match after they went down 0-3 (13-25, 17-25, 15-25) against Ahly of Egypt to bring their win-loss record in the tournament to 1-3 and bow out of contention.

Prisons, who finished second in the Kenya Volleyball Federation National league last year, started the Championships on a promising note after they defeated Beau Vallon of Seychelles 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 28-26).

The warders would then concede 0-3 (16-25, 25-21, 16-25, 18-25) against Forces Armee Police (FAP) of Police in their second match of the tournament.

Prisons’ bid to remain afloat in the competition proved tricky after they lost 0-3 (14-25, 14-25, 23-25) against Ahly Tripoli of Libya in their third match.

“The draws placed us in a pool of experienced teams like Ahly of Egypt and Ahly Tripoli who were well prepared for the Championships,” said Prisons coach Gideon Chenje.

Win one match

“We played to the best of our ability but it was unfortunate that we could only manage to win one match and we were out of the contest for the title,” Chenje said.

“We’ve lost the contest but there is always next time,” Chenje who led the team to second place finish in the 2011 Championships in Cairo said.

GSU, who have had a fair run in the tournament, defeated Port of Cameroon 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-22) to bring their win-loss record to 3-1 and jump to the second position in Pool ‘D’ of the tournament.

GSU were scheduled to play hosts and pool leaders Esperance in decisive match to qualify for the quarters.

GSU lost their opening match of the tournament after they went down 0-3 (19-25, 15-25, 17-25) against Ahly Benghazi of Libya.

The Kenyans recovered to win their next two matches by beating Nemo Stars of Uganda 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-18) and Mugher Cement of Ethiopia 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-18) to inch closer to the quarters. —[e-mail]