Kenyan clubs fall in continental championship

Kenyan clubs on Tuesday struggled to impress at the men's Africa Club volleyball championship in Egypt.

In what turned out to be a disappointing day two, General Service Unit (GSU)'s chances of making it to the quarters faded following a 3-2(25-20,25-23,18-25,25-27,15-8) loss to Uganda champions Nemo Stars at the Ahly Sports Hall in Cairo.

This was GSU's second defeat on the trot at this tournament. The Kenyan champions also lost 3-2(23-25,25-20,17-25,15-10) to Libya's Asaria on Monday.

Against the Ugandans, GSU attempted a comeback after losing the opening two sets of the match despite taking the lead at some point in both of these.

That plan failed to work.

This East African derby swung in Kenya's favour as GSU won the following two sets, but Nemo Stars rebounded in the tiebreaker to nail it 15-8.

In the other clash involving a Kenyan club, Kenya Prisons lost 3-1(22-25,25-19,25-19,29-27) to Libya's Swehly.

"I'm encouraged with our performance against a strong team which finished fourth in this championship last year and one of the favourites to go all the way this year. The way we pushed them was good enough and Sila Kipruto was among the best servers in the game. We are still targeting qualification to the quarter-finals," said Prisons coach David Lung'aho.

This outcome translates Prisons win-lose ratio at the tournament to 1:1, following Monday's inspiring 3-0(25-14,25-20,25-23) win over Ethiopia's Wolaitta.

In other selected results, hosts Ahly romped Libya's Ahly 25-12,25-17,19-25,25-17) as Uganda Christian University edged Madagascar's Gendarmarie 3-1(25-19,29-27,25-22).

FAP of Cameroon were also 3-1(24-14,19-25,25-23,25-19) victors over struggling Burundian club Rukinzo, whilst the University of Zimbabwe recovered from losing the opening two sets to defeat Congo's Mwangaza 3-2(22-25,26-28,25-19,25-23,15-11) in an exciting match.