General Service Unit dethrone Prisons

BY OSCAR PILIPILI

KENYA: The General Service Unit (GSU) dethroned Kenya Prisons 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 27-25, 25-22) to reclaim the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) national league title.

The victory brought GSU’s record to 11 titles inside the last 13 years.

The match was a show of power and skill with each team parading its best line up. Prisons coach Gideon Chenje opted to start with Laban Simiyu, Dennis Mokua, Peter Kibata, Bilasio Kokonya and captain Ibrahim Oduor.

GSU tactician Gideon Tarus also went for experience relying on the strength of Bernard Musumba, David Kirwa, Wesley Rono, Solomon Bitok, Alex Kariuki, Bernard Muriuki and Stephen Mathenge.

The first set was hotly contested with each team fighting to take control of the proceedings.

Prisons had an edge over GSU as they raced to a 25-23 victory and took a 1-0 set advantage.

The paramilitary men, cheered on by their vocal fans, entered the second set with purpose and cruised to a 25-17 win to level the sets at 1-1.

Close contest

The third set was closely contested with the teams fighting to keep the scores close. But GSU carried the set 27-25 to take a 2-1 sets advantage.

Bitok, Musumba, Rono and Kirwa combined well to give GSU quick points in the fourth set. GSU showed a glimplse of what made them claim their 11th title in 13 years as they bombarded Prisons with strong shots.

Prisons fought hard to contain the charging GSU but the Ruaraka based team was unstoppable and sealed the win with 3-1 set.

Forest Rangers put up an impressive show to beat Kenya Defence Forces 3-1 (24-26, 25-14, 25-20, 25-23) and bag the bronze.

Rangers completed the tournament with a 1-2 record while KDF dropped to 0-3.

Women’s category

In the women’s play-offs, Prisons defeated arch-rivals Kenya Pipeline 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-18) to win their fifth title and earn a ticket to represent the country in the 2014 CAVB African Club Championships

Prisons completed the play-offs with a clean sheet with a win-loss record of 3-0 while Pipeline’s record was 2-1.

Nairobi Water realised their dream of finishing in podium position after defeating Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 16-25, 16-14) in a five setter thriller that lasted two hours and 24 minutes.

The victory brought Nairobi Water’s win-loss record to 1-2 while KCB dropped to 3-0 in the contest that involved four teams.

With the national league now over, focus turns to the ongoing 2014 FIVB World Championships African qualifiers.

The national men’s team is preparing to depart for Rwanda on Saturday for a Group Q qualification round. Kenya will play against Egypt, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

The national women’s team is also preparing for a final round of qualifiers to be played at a yet to be decided venue in January.     — opilipili@standardmedia.