Defending champions Kenya Pipeline will face Kenya Prisons in the second leg of the 2017 Kenya Volleyball Federation League in Ndakaini. PHOTO/courtesy
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 24 – Reigning Kenya Volleyball Federation women league champions Kenya Pipeline and 2013 champions Kenya Prisons will renew their rivalry this Friday during the second leg of the league at the Ndakaini Dam in Murang’a County.
This will be the second time the two giants will be meeting this month having played against each other in the quarter finals of the African Club Championships in Tunisia earlier on. Local champions Pipeline will surely be looking for revenge after painfully losing 3-2 to Prisons in Monastir.
Pipeline who missed the opening leg last month in Nyeri will begin their search for a fourth league title in a row while their biggest competitors Pipeline are seeking to quench the thirst for a local title that has eluded them since 2013.
This match will provide a perfect platform for Pipeline to exert their authority as the best in the country while Prisons will be out to prove their win in Tunisia wasn’t a fluke.
But pressure is not only with Pipeline and Prisons.
Much is expected from hosts Nairobi Water (women) who will kick-start their season with two matches against Kenya Commercial Bank and Mount Kenya University on the shores of Nairobi’s biggest water reservoir.
Just like Pipeline, Water missed the opening leg of the season and will hope for a positive start with the setting being perfect at their backyard.
While a playoff berth is assured to all the four teams, Water, the youngest club in the women’s division would want to prove a point before their bosses and possibly do better than their performances in previous seasons.
Kenya Prisons men’s team taking on rivals GSU in the Baringo County tournament. PHOTO/Elvince Joshua
Their male colleagues who moved their training base from Nairobi to Ndakaini last year will face 2015 champions General Service Unit (GSU) and first rising Prisons Mombasa in another tough match lined up this Friday.
Water finished fourth last season at it would be interesting to see whether they’ll carry on with their good form that saw them dictate the pace of the league until the second last leg when they surrendered the steering wheel to GSU.
The paramilitary side will have a bone to pick with reigning champions Kenya Prisons who denied them the chance for back to back titles in a hotly contested final last year. GSU’s other fixture is against Vihiga County.
Another interesting match to watch out for will be a clash between Forest Rangers and Kenya Defence Forces. Rangers who are making a comeback to the league after withdrawing midway through last season also have a date with champions Kenya Prisons and Prisons Mombasa.
The army men who missed their first national playoff last year however will meet the bankers-Cooperative Bank in another match as Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) entertains Western Stima and neighbors Prisons Mombasa.
League fixtures
Men: Western Prison vs Vihiga County, Administration Police vs Mount Kenya University, Cooporative Bank vs Kenya Defence Forces, Forest Rangers vs Prisons Kenya, Prisons Nairobi vs Mount Kenya University, Nairobi Water vs General Service Unit, Kenya Ports Authority vs Western Stima, Prisons Mombasa vs Forest Rangers, Nairobi Prisons vs Kenya Defence Forces, General Service Unit vs Prisons Kenya, Administration Police vs Kenya Ports Authority, Prisons Mombasa vs Nairobi Water, Vihiga County vs General Service Unit
Women: Nairobi Water vs Mount Kenya University, Kenya Pipeline vs Kenya Prisons, Mount Krnya University vs Kenya Pipeline, Nairobi Water vs Kenya Commercial Bank
-By Elvince Joshua-
