Reigning Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) Men’s National League champions General Service Unit (GSU) yesterday had a start they never wished for after suffering a shock defeat to the Kenya Airports Police Unit (KAPU).
The absence of the trio of outside hitter Nicholas Matui, setter Mathias Kemboi and libero Hudson Kipchumba was deeply felt as GSU crumbled to a 3-2 defeat in the opening match of the 2025-2026 at Kasarani Indoor Arena.
The paramilitary side took the first set 25-21 and seemed to be in control of the set too scoring five straight points without a reply from KAPU.
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Nevertheless, they allowed the airport law enforcers to regain their footing a mistake that proved costly as they rallied from behind to grab the set 25-22. GSU once again had a promising start in the third set but fumbled to let the KAPU take a 2-1 advantage after sealing the set 25-21. GSU put up a spirited fight to win the fourth set 26-24.
Having come closer to a memorable start to the season, KAPU outplayed the multiple champions to win the fifth set 15-5 and register the shock win.
In the first match of the season, Administration Police of Kenya (AP Kenya) were forced to work hard for win against newcomers Eldoret Water (Eldowas) in a thrilling five-set encounter. AP had a good start taking the first two sets with an identical score of 25-21.
Eldowas proved that they will be no pushovers despite being new in the tier as they fought gallantly to delay AP’s win.
Eldowas almost staged a shocking comeback after winning the third and fourth sets 36-34 and 25-20. However, experience saved the day for the police administrators who regrouped to win the decisive fifth set 15-11 to bag two crucial points.
Today, Eldowas will face an acid test against the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) while AP will play Prisons Nairobi.
In another encounter, Prisons Nairobi laboured to a 3-2 win against the National Youth Service (NYS).
NYS, who survived relegation last season, returned stronger and were impressive despite the defeat. The two sides showed their desire to carry the day as they battle from the whistle with the Warders overpowering NYS to take the first set 25-18.
NYS dominated the second to win the second set 25-21 and level the score 1-1. They fought on to snatch a 2-1 lead after snatching the third set 25-22. Nonetheless they failed to seal the victory allowing Prisons to take the fourth set 25-20 for a 2-2 score. The fifth set was fiercely contested with the Warders holding the nerve to edge out NYS 18-16.
NYS will chase their first win today when they welcome newly promoted Chema Volleyball Club to the big boys’ league.