Volleyball: GSU, Pipeline seek to defend league crowns

Naftali Chumba (left) and Cornelius Lagat (right) of GSU blocks Kenya Prison Elphas's Makuto spike during the Nakuru county Volleyball championship at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru on October 21,2018.Photo:Kipsang Joseph/Standard

Prisons’ teams out to reclaim national volleyball titles as KDF also keen to shine.

Action galore is expected at the Kasarani Gymnasium as the Kenya Volleyball Federation National League play-offs return to Nairobi this weekend after a five-year hiatus.  

The three-day tournament to be played in a round robin format serves off today at Kasarani with the 2018 champions expected to be crowned on Monday.

It will be a battle of titans in both men and women’s competitions as all the four finalists seek to out-do each other.

History will either be re-written or records broken in the competition whose winners will represent the country in next year’s African Club championships.

This season’s play-offs promise to be the most enthralling and dramatic in recent history.

Former champions

While men’s champions General Service Unit will be out to claim back-to-back titles, their 14th title in history, dark horses Kenya Defence Forces are in desperate need for a maiden national title as they make a return to the play-offs after a two-year absence.

The soldiers will open the title campaign with a clash against former champions Prisons Kenya at 1pm before paving way for the 3pm encounter between holders GSU and Kenya Ports Authority.

Although the paramilitary side finished the regular season on top of the table with an unbeaten record, coach Gideon Tarus has warned his charges against undermining their opponents.

“I respect all the teams that have made it to the play-offs. All the three teams are a threat to our title defence, though KDF seems to be one of the teams to watch. But we are the champions, so we will handle each team differently,” Tarus told The Standard Sports.

But with a strong squad comprising a mixture of experience and youth at their disposal, KDF team manager Alfred Ruto is confident the soldiers can pull off a surprise.

“It’s my hope that the dark horses’ tag will work to our advantage. We are equal to the task. Apart from GSU, I think we are at the same level with KPA and Prisons. We are expecting a very interesting opening match against Prisons,” said Ruto.

And just like their men’s counterpart, who will be looking to reclaim the title they lost to GSU last year, Prisons Kenya will be aiming to end the four-year title drought as well as break their winless play-offs against champions Kenya Pipeline.

But it will not be a walk in the park for Prisons and Pipeline as debutantes Bungoma County and Kenya Commercial Bank are out to prove a point if their preparation is anything to go by.

“We’ve worked on our weaknesses especially reception and we are now set for the play-offs. I know it will not be easy, but our target is still to reclaim the title. We’ve been in camp for over a month and everybody is motivated,” said Prisons coach Josp Barasa.

 “We are going to take each match like a final. There is no room for complacency and we cannot afford to underrate any of our opponents.”