Defending women’s volleyball champions push Kenya to the wire
Defending women’s volleyball champions Kenya needed a decider to beat Tanzanian 3-2 in the fourth day of the ongoing East African Community (EAC) Military Games and Cultural events at the Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani Indoor Arena on Friday afternoon.
The holders managed a 25-23, 28-26, 21-25, 24-26 and 15-8 in a match Kenya started well before losing grip in the third and fourth sets only to redeem themselves in the decider.
It was a much-improved performance by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) women’s side who suffered a shock 3-0 loss to Uganda in the opening game on Wednesday.
Former Kenya international attacker and KDF captain Edna Rotich said the team had improved greatly in reception and on the offensive, areas that were insufficient from the opening match.
“The loss from the opening match was our motivator,” said the attacker.
“We did panic in the third and fourth set especially when we were on the verge of wrapping the game. We are not there yet since our reception failed especially in the two sets we lost,” said Rotich who had fellow attackers Chemeli Edna and Damaris Chepkorom to thank for the victory.
On Wednesday, Kenya lost the first set 18-25 before succumbing to a 24-26 loss in the second despite leading for the better part of the set. A 20-25 third set followed it.
“Today most of our shots landed unlike from the first game when the attackers were neutralised,” said coach Sila Makiso while praising 2017 silver medallist Tanzanian for a match well played.
In another encounter, Uganda thrashed Burundi 3-0 (25-8, 25-19 and 25-9) in what hugely a one-sided affair. In basketball Kenya defeated Burundi 90-66 in a match played at the Kasarani Indoor Arena late on Thursday. —Amos Abuga
