CAVB Club Championships: KCB, Prisons on war path as Pipeline face FAP in quarters

Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) champions Kenya Prisons face local rivals KCB in the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) women's club championship quarters. 

The Japeth Munala-led bankers dispensed rivals Customs of Nigeria by straight sets in a round of 16 match played on Thursday 26 May to book their dat with the wardresses. 

This is not the only time the Kenyan sides will be looking to eliminate their compatriots as the winner of the quarterfinal is likely to meet former champions Kenya Pipeline in the semis if the oilers go past their Cameroonian opposition in the last eight. 

CAVB Club Championships: Kenyan sides through to quarters

Against Customs, the bankers put up a spirited fight, leading in all sets from the get go but for the second where they assumed lead at 3-2 to win 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-14 ). 

If history is anything to go by, the Paul Gitau-coached Pipeline have the upper hand against the Cameroonian opposition in the quarters. The last meeting between the two sides was during the 2019 Club championship where the Kenyan side picked a 3-1 (22-25, 25-8, 25-18, 25-18) victory. 

The all-Kenyan affair, however, has few factors determining which team will be left to fight for a place in the final and who will be relegated to the fifth to eighth place playoff. 

Both sides boast star-studded squads with a good number of the national team players turning up for both sides. 

Their last meeting was last year in the KVF title decider where Prisons, who paraded both experienced and youthful players, got the better of their rivals to wrap up the four set thriller 3-1 (25-22, 13-25, 25-21 and 25-17).

However, the squads have slightly changed as KCB are missing the services of some key players among them Leonida Kasaya. Other notable absentees are Noel Murambi and Violet Makuto who have since decamped to Pipeline. 

Prisons' Josp Barasa is also missing some key players among them Joy Lusenaka and Lydia Maiyo. 

KCB have already improved on their placing in the last outing where they finished ninth in 2019 by qualifying for the last eight and are looking to be in the medal bracket while Barasa's charges are keen to improve on their third-place finish last year.