Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) on Saturday dismissed Administration Police of Kenya (AP-Kenya) 3-0 in their opening match of the second edition of the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) Kenya Cup at Nyayo Gymnasium.
The dockers were dominant from the onset to subject the law enforcers to their first Group C defeat. AP had launched their campaign with a 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-20) win over their Kenya Airport Police Unit (KAPU) compatriots on Friday evening.
However, they failed to carry the momentum into their clash against KPA to succumb to a straight sets defeat of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-16. KPA outside hitter Kevin Wanyama was outstanding hence bagging the game’s player of the match award.
The Coastal side will today clash with KAPU in hunt of their first win while the airport police officers will be hoping to bounce back from their opening match defeat to secure victory. In Group A, defending champions the General Service Unit (GSU) ended their preliminaries unbeaten after seeing off The Beast Volleyball Club.
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GSU were without doubt the better side as they controlled the game to win the first two sets 25-19 and 25-13. Determined not to go down without a proper fight, The Beast recovered to snatch the third set 25-20 and delay the paramilitary side’s win. However, GSU regained their footing to kill the game in the fourth set by the same margin.
Setter Gregory Kiplimo, who shifted his allegiance from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to GSU won the man of the match accolade.
The champions topped the pool with six points while The Beast, who had defeated Prisons Nairobi in their opening match, were second. Winless city warders finished at the bottom of the three-team group.
Men’s National League debutants Eldoret Water and Sewerage Company (Eldowas) recovered from their disappointing start to stun Trailblazers Volleyball Club and register their first win. Jacktone Kipkosgei bagged man of the match for anchoring Eldowas to victory.
Unlike their opening match which they lost to fellow top tier debutants Chema Volleyball Club, Eldowas were more composed against Trailblazers who were also chasing their first win.
They took the first set 25-22 but Blazers recovered to snatch the second 26-24. Even so, Eldowas regrouped taking charge of the court to take the third and fourth sets by an identical score of 25-23 to carry the day.
Today, Kenya Prisons and Equity will renew rivalry while the National Youth Service (NYS) and Kenya Navy who lost their opening matches to the former and the latter will lock horns in Group D.
In the women’s title hunt, bitter rivals Kenya Prisons and Kenya Pipeline will battle it out in their second Group B matches in a clash that is likely to determine the pool winner.
Both sides will be chasing their second wins having won their opening matches against KDF ladies and Postbank respectively. Postbank will take on KDF in the other pool match with the winner registering their first victory.