Kenya silence Botswana

The national junior volleyball team Sunday grabbed a 3-0 (25-14, 31-29, 25-20) win over Botswana as the Under 23 Women’s Africa Nations Championship served off at the Safaricom Indoor Arena.

Rwanda also clinched an important 3-1 victory over Senegal (26-28, 25-17, 25-14, 25-19) on the opening day.

This is the first ever junior competition in Africa, which has brought together teams from Rwanda,  Senegal, Botswana, Egypt and hosts Kenya.

The winners and runners up of this tournament will get automatic tickets to the FIVB Women’s World Under 23 Championship, which will be held in August next year in Slovenia. 

QUICK VICTORY

Kenya started on a high and went ahead 25-15 in the first set that lasted only 16 minutes. A power blackout in the second set caused temporary stoppage of the match with the Kenyan team leading 7-6 over Botswana.

The visitors seemed to have benefited from the eight-minute stoppage as they responded to Kenya’s swift and powerful spikes with skilful blocks. Ultimately, Kenya ran away 31-29 winners of that second set.

There was no reprieve for the Botswana in the third set as Doreen Marani and Ann Lowem combined beautifully to sink them 25-20.

Coach Catherine Mabwi congratulated her team for starting well, although she acknowledged that the real test would come on Monday against Egypt.

“My prayer was to start with a win and I am so happy that it has come to pass. Any other result could have complicated things for us because we are playing an even tougher match on Monday,” she said.

In an earlier game played at the same venue, Paul Bitok’s Rwanda got off to a bright start by beating high-ranking Senegal 3-1.
Uwimbabazi Lea was sensational for Rwanda and produced some gracious spikes even as her team went down 26-28 in the first set.

The 19-year-old striker was also at the centre of the team’s success in the second set where she accounted for 12 points as her team got their first win 25-17.

Throughout this period, Senegal had displayed serious frailties on their back line and in the third set, they degenerated completely and lost by an embarrassing 25-14 score.

The last set was most entertaining one with Senegal tried desperately to make amends and Rwanda determinedly sought to put the match to bed.

Senegal’s defensive frailties however cost them in the end, and they ended up losing 25-19 in that last set.
The action continues Monday at the same venue where Kenya will be up for an even more daunting task against Egypt as Botswana face Senegal starting 2pm and 4pm respectively.