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

Former Kenya Volleyball Federation women's league champions Kenya Pipeline got their title campaign off to a flying start as they despatched defending champions Prisons Kenya by straight sets at the Kasarani Indoor Arena.

Pipeline who paraded a squad largely made up of young players served Prisons volleyball lessons, winning all sets in a convincing way 25-23,25-18 and 25-19 to start the hunt for the title in a positive way.

Reacting to the resounding victory, Pipeline head coach Paul Gitau said beating a team of Prisons calibre is a strong indication that his team is ripe for the title.

"I really had big plans for the match and I am glad we have executed them on the court. If you win a game of such magnitude the chances of laying hands on the title are high," he said.

His opposite number Josp Barasa was quick to note that finishing cost them victory, however, he feels that they stand a chance of beating KCB in the next game.

"Our finishing wasn't good enough but we are going to look into that. We hope to have it sharpened ahead of our next game," he said.

After watching Prisons who were trailing close in, Pipeline boss Gitau requested for a timeout when the scores were tied at 21 in a bid to inject new tact and win the opening set.

The tactical approach proved spot as Pipeline bagged three consecutive points to be on the cusp but, they first, they had to deal with the threat posed by the wardresses who picked up two points to set up a thrilling end in the set.

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Pipeline, however, could not be painfully denied as they held on the pressure from the opponent who had a good number of experienced players on the court to register the first set.

There was no stopping the oilers in the subsequent set as they unleashed their mighty to open an healthy point gap, giving Prisons an enormous task of catching up.

With the stars already aligned in favour of Pipeline, the third set presented Prisons an opportunity to at least grab something to console them.

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The two teams went neck on neck but Pipeline had the gas to sustain the momentum and would neutralise and overpower Prisons in the closing stages to win the match.

Meanwhile, KCB were forced to break sweat enroute to their 3-2 win over DCI in a game played at the same venue.

The bankers won 25-17,21-25,25-23,23-25 and 15-13.