KCB sweep Kenya Prisons aside to draw closer to league title

KCB have laid their intentions of clinching the Kenya Volleyball Federation women's National League bare after sweeping aside defending champions Prisons Kenya 3-0 (25-21,25,22 and 25-17) in day two of the ongoing playoffs at the Kasarani Indoor Arena. 

KCB who beat a spirited Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) 3-2 on Friday at the same venue outclassed Prisons who have surrendered the title by virtue of suffering two losses. 

Spirited Pipeline floor Prisons to start title hunt on a positive note

Prisons lost 3-0 (25-23,25-18 and 25-19) on Friday and were hoping to humble KCB who are fresh from being crowned as the Sports Team of the Year(women's category) in the during the SOYA awards ceremony held on Friday night. 

However, KCB prevailed on and will be seeking to humiliate the 2017 champions Pipeline on Sunday and scoop the title. 

Experienced KCB hitter Mercy Moim revealed that the brief training session they had in the morning helped them rectify the mistakes made in day one.

"We lost around seven services against DCI and had to work on it before our game against Prisons. We thoroughly polished the areas exposed o ln Friday and it is satisfying to have won our game in straight sets," she said.

Moim who doubles up as the national team skipper said the team drew inspiration from the award won on Friday.

"We came to the game not only prepared but also, motivated considering that we were crowned the team of the year as well as our coach was named as the best. We couldn't afford to lose the match as it would have looked bad on us as we are the reigning African champions," she added.

Prisons head coach Josp Baraza called for a technical timeout when the scores were tied at 16-13 in the first set after realizing that the bankers were slowly pulling away and widening the rift but the thirty-second long pep talk did little to bridge in and mount a chase for the set.

The tactician would request for another timeout while at the same time ringing changes in the team in a bid to stage a comeback but the hard hitting opponent continued to chart their path to securing the set.

Prisons managed to gather points after the second time out but it proved too late to inspire them to what would have been a dramatic comeback as KCB held on the pressure to secure the set. 

Prisons who looked off-colour in the first set set summoned their energies and led from the first whistle, courtesy of the forced errors by the KCB team. 

With the scores at 14-10 in favour of Prisons,KCB boss Japhet Munala rested setter Emmaculate Nekesa for Faith Imodia, in a change aimed at ensuring effective supply to the hitters and catch up with Prisons. 

There was significant improvement on the KCB side following the introduction of Imodia as her ability to lay the overhead balls saw them gather points and close in on Prisons who will have themselves to blame for throwing away the advantage.

Prisons threw in setter Joy Lusenaka for Herma Jepyego who did the ball setting duties in the first set but KCB were simply good enough.

Trailing 12-8 in the third set, Prisons called for a timeout hoping to quickly device a tact that would see them neutralise the bankers but their poor blocks seemed to work against them as it allowed the opponent to freely spike the ball to their territory.