The 2025-2026 season of Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) Men’s National League promises to be one of the most competitive if the first leg staged at the weekend is anything to go by.
The start of the season served everything but reverence for the big names that have dominated the league for years.
Newly promoted sides Chema Volleyball Club and Eldoret Water and Sanitation (Eldowas) took the big stage by storm. They lit up the Kasarani Indoor Arena with their brilliant performances hence sending an early warning to the top guns not to write them off for they are also serious contenders for the title.
Defending champions the General Service Unit (GSU) were the biggest casualties of the first leg as they suffered double defeat a pointer to tough times ahead of them. The paramilitary lost their season opener 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 21-25, 26-24, 5-15) to Kenya Airport Police Unit (KAPU).
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They failed to recover from their game one setback tumbling at the hands of Trailblazers Volleyball Club in straight sets of 25-21 25-13 and 25-22. They are currently 11th on the table with one point earned from the five sets defeat to KAPU.
Former champions Kenya Prisons had a great start and currently top the table with 12 points from four matches.
The Warders who finished fourth last season have won their matches convincingly only dropping one set to Equity Bank. Last season silver medalists Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) are second with 10 points from three wins and a loss.
The dockers suffered a shock 3-2 (25-19, 27-29, 26-28, 25-11, 11-15) to rookies Eldowas.
Chema are third with nine points and also boast of an unbeaten run. They began their top tier campaign with a perfect show against the National Youth Service (NYS) registering a 3-0(25-22, 25-12, 25-13).
They followed it up with another straight sets win against Administration Police of Kenya (AP Kenya) then ended their first leg campaign with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 25-25, 25-16) win against Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
KAPU who are also yet to lose a match are fourth with eight points from three outings. After shocking GSU on day one of the season, KAPU went on to defeat NYS 3-1 (30-28, 24-26, 25-18, 25-19) and AP 3-0 (46-44, 31-29, 25-22) in a thrilling encounter that recorded one of the highest set scores in the history of the sport.
KDF are fifth tied on eight points with KAPU but have played four matches and also have an inferior set ratio. Equity Bank are sixth with six points while AP Kenya are seventh with five points from four matches.