CAVB: Pipeline mount comeback over KCB to clinch bronze

Kenyan volleyball team Kenya Pipeline clinched bronze in the 37th women’s African Volleyball Club Championship after seeing off 2022 champions KCB in a third-place playoff match at the El-Ahly Sporting Club Arena in Cairo, Egypt on Saturday.

The six-time tournament champions needed a comeback to win their seventh bronze medal in this competition; going down in the first set only to record a 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-16) victory.

The win for Pipeline pulls them to 21 total championship medals, and comes as a welcome relief for them after failing in their attempt to make it to back-to-back finals late Friday.

Esther Jepkosgei’s side were dealt a huge blow in the last four after suffering a 3-1 (25-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-13) defeat to Egyptian side Al Ahly.

A place on the podium for Pipeline looked to be under serious threat in the first set as they fell to a 19-16 deficit and later 22-17, before going down 25-18.

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And just like the first games of the first set had played out, a close affair was witnessed in the second set, before Pipeline stamped the authority to take a late 20-24 lead.

Pipeline capitalized on their second set point to cap off the set at 25-21, and were flying out of the traps in the next two sets as KCB barely found a way to gain ground.

And after a pretty dominant start to the tournament - where they only lost one set on their way to the last four - the Bankers endured a tough finish, losing in back-to-back matches to finish fourth.

The final between Al Ahly and Zamalek takes place late Saturday night.