Prisons defeat GSU to book Bitok International tournament semis slot

In a closely contested encounter at the Ulinzi Complex, former Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) champions Prisons Kenya managed a 3-1 convincing win against GSU. 

The KVF men's league holders, General Service Unit, had hoped to go all the way to the final and dominate as has been the case in the league but their archrivals had other ideas for the three-day Bitok International tournament. 

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Under the tutelage of David Lugh'aho, the warders started the match on a high, matching GSU's energy blow for blow to take the first set 30-28 against a hard-fighting GSU side. 

The win spurred Lugh'aho's charges to keep a tight ship in the second set to win 27-25 and move closer to sealing a straight-sets victory. 

Determined not to go down without a fight, the Gideon Tarus-led paramilitary side fought to pull one back in the third set in a 24-26 outcome to get themselves back into the match with a fighting chance. 

The warders, however, played a dominant fourth set to win 25-19 and seal a rare win against the league holders. 

"It was a very tough match, the scores can tell. We fought hard but a few mistakes in the third quarter denied us the chance to kill the match earlier. 

I am, however, happy with how the players showed up for this match. We are ready for the semis. We take it one match at a time as we eye the final and the title," offered Lugh'aho. 

Meanwhile, the women's preliminary matches were not without their fare share of drama as Prisons Kenya fell to KCB in a straight-sets defeat to finish in second place pool B. 

Holders Kenya Pipeline won all their matches to place top in pool A, booking a semis slot against Prisons while the Bankers play Directorate of Criminal Investigations who finished second in pool A. 

Select Women's Results 

POOL A 

NAIROBI WATER VS DCI (1-3)

Set 1: 11-25

Set 2: 27-25

Set 3: 19-25

Set 4: 18-25 

KPC VS KDF (3-0)

Set 1: 25-14

Set 2: 25-20

Set 3: 26-24

KPC VS NAIROBI WATER (3-0)

Set 1: 25-9

Set 2: 25- 14

Set 3: 25- 16

KPC v DCI (3-1)

Set 1: 25-17

Set 2: 25-19

Set 3: 21-25

Set 4: 25-19

POOL B

NAIROBI PRISONS VS KCB (0-3) 

Set 1: 23-25

Set 2: 14-25

Set 3: 18-25  

POSTBANK VS KENYA PRISONS (0-3)

Set 1: 22-25

Set 2: 14-25

Set 3: 20-25  

KCB v KENYA PRISONS (3-0)

Set 1: 25-22

Set 2: 25-17

Set 3: 25-15