University of Nairobi lose out

By OSCAR PILIPILI

KENYA: Tushauriane team beat University of Nairobi (UoN) 3-1 in sets of 24-26, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23 in the men’s final to lift the Vevo Open Volleyball tournament trophy in a match played at Moi Sports Centre, Kasarani.

The first set started on a competitive note as Tushauriane gained the first point of the match when attacker Julius Mwai’s strike penetrated the defence of UoN to land in the backcourt.

UoN made it 2-1 when Kenneth Macharia and Paul Kimutai had a successful attack on Malick Onyango.

Tushauriane, a self-supporting club based in Nairobi’s Kayole estate, gained two successive points through Mwai’s attack and James Waigwa’s block but the students charged on to take a 4-2 advantage before taking an 8-6 lead at the first technical time out.

The first set was a close contest but UoN played well to maintain the lead and claim a 26-24 victory.

The second set was equally competitive with both teams fighting to keep the scores close. Tushauriane had a good combination of play with James Waigwa, Paul Muhoro and Peter Wang’ombe dominating to clinch the set win at 25-22.

The students appeared to have run out of steam in the third set as Tushauriane run rings around them taking an 8-3 and 16-8 lead at the two technical time outs.

UoN staged a late come back with Kenneth Macharia, Paul Kimutai, Patrick Kimani and John Kaemba gaining quick points but the gap was too wide for them to close as Tushauriane won 25-17 and claimed a 3-1 set advantage.

In earlier matches, Tushauriane beat Egerton University 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-22) but lost against Nakuru All Stars 2-3 (25-16, 25-15, 27-29, 18-25 and 16-18) in a five-set thriller.

After losing to Tushauriane, Egerton University showed their might in net play when they beat UoN 3-2 (20-25, 18-25, 25-12, 25-19, 16-14). They then outclased United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) to take all four sets (16-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-18).

The two-day tournament attracted eight teams that were selected through regional qualification rounds. Regions represented were Nairobi, Nyeri and Nakuru.

Vevo, which means volleyball evolution, is organised by Action Zone.

The objective of the volleyball tournament is to work hand in  hand with Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) and take the sport to areas in the country that are dominated by other sports.

Action Zone Director Eric Thimba said: “An area like Rift Valley is associated with athletics while Western and Nyanza tilt towards football.”

“Our aim is to popularise volleyball around the lake region and other areas like Eastern that have very few clubs,” said Thimba.

Action Zone was formed when individuals organising estate tournaments decided to come together and form one strong body last year. Thimba said they intend to raise the profile of the tournament by moving to club level next season.

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