Volleyball: Hosts labour to beat Uganda as Rwanda fall to Egypt

Kenya must win their remaining two matches against Rwanda and the fancied North African side to qualify [Courtesy]

All Africa Games Zone Five champions Kenya laboured to beat Uganda 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-12) in a thrilling AAG qualifying tournament match at the Kasarani Gymnasium yesterday.

General Service Unit left attacker Nicholas Matui saved Kenya’s blushes with his powerful spikes that helped the hosts claim the fifth set.

Kenya, who finished third in the 2011 AAG in Maputo-Mozambique, face off Paul Bitok’s Rwanda in another highly anticipated match at 4pm today.

Rwanda lost 3-1 to Egypt (25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16) in their opening match yesterday.

The North Africans will clash with Uganda in an early kick off match at 2pm.

But to return to the continental showpiece slated for August in Morocco, Moses Epoloto’s men must win their remaining two matches against Rwanda and the fancied North African side.

Even as Bitok avoided to talk of seeking revenge against Kenya, who beat him 3-1 to win the regional title two years ago in Kigali, he relished the prospects of playing against his native country once more.

“It’s always tough playing against your country, more so at home. So, I expect a very tense but interesting match. We all know how important this game is to both teams. But I wish both teams all the best. We must bounce back from our defeat to Egypt,’ Bitok told Standard Sports.

The match started on a high tempo with both teams exchanging the leads in the first set before Kenya opened a two-point lead for a 8-6 score at the first Technical Time Out.

However, inspired by the experienced duo of Bulgaria-based attacker Kathbert Malinga and his Canadian-based counterpart David Okello, Uganda bounced back to take a 16-15 lead into the second TTO.

The Ugandans then capitalised on Kenya’s poor back court defence to open a two-point lead (20-18) before Simeon Kipkirui’s poor reception gifted the Ugandans a point as the visitors maintained a two-point gap at 23-22.

Uganda continued with their hard-hitting spikes and eventually claimed the first set 25-22 thanks to Okello’s powerful spikes.

However, like real champions and playing in front of their home fans, Kenya recovered quickly with experienced attacker Michael Chemos and captain Jairus Kipkosgei playing a crucial role to win the second set (21-25) and level matters 1-1.

Just like the first two sets, both teams exchanged leads but Kenya proved the better side, leading all the TTO’s before eventually winning the third set 25-21 to the excitement of the home fans.

But the Ugandans e,regrouped in the fourth set,  frustrating Kenya to the death before Moses Odeke’s spike send the match into a tiebreaker 27-25 before Kenyans won 15-12.