Kenya edge Rwanda to book World Championship slot
Kenya's Under-23 players celebrate their win against Rwanda during their Africa Under-23 Women's Nations Championship match at Kasarani Indoor Gymnasium on October 27, 2016. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |
What you need to know:
- This result saw Kenya finish second in the week-long competition behind Egypt, guaranteeing them a direct ticket to the FIVB World Under 23 championship which will be held in August next year in Slovenia alongside the Egyptians.
- Earlier, Egypt had beaten Botswana 3-0(25-16, 25-10, 25-19) to finish as champions of the five-nation event. Champions Egypt had swept aside all their four opponents in the tournament, dropping only one set during their 3-1 win over Kenya on Monday.
- The first set was a particularly nervy affair, as the Rwandans led Kenya 11-10 and 19-14 before Kenya successfully chased them down in the final moments of the set to settle matters with a 25-23 win.
The national women’s junior volleyball team ran out 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19) winners over Rwanda in their final match of the Under-23 Africa Nations Championship at the Safaricom Indoor Arena on Thursday.
This result saw Kenya finish second in the week-long competition behind Egypt, guaranteeing them a direct ticket to the FIVB World Under 23 championship which will be held in August next year in Slovenia alongside the Egyptians.
Earlier, Egypt had beaten Botswana 3-0(25-16, 25-10, 25-19) to finish as champions of the five-nation event. Champions Egypt had swept aside all their four opponents in the tournament, dropping only one set during their 3-1 win over Kenya on Monday.
A logistical development regarding payment of the match statisticians caused a one-hour delay of the match as they demanded payment of 250 dollars each before the game could commence.
Every set was a neck to neck affair, with Kenya's attacks being orchestrated by Yvonne Wavinya and Rwanda responding with tough balls courtesy of outside hitter Uwimbabazi Lea.
The first set was a particularly nervy affair, as the Rwandans led Kenya 11-10 and 19-14 before Kenya successfully chased them down in the final moments of the set to settle matters with a 25-23 win.
Kenya suffered a major blow in the second set when star player Wavinya had her finger turned back painfully causing her to withdraw prematurely from the game.
Edna Mwombe took her place and proved a good deputy, winning Kenya five service aces in that period.
Poor coordination caused by anxiety and high level pressure however caused the Kenyan girls to make a number of silly mistakes, allowing Rwanda to return the favour by winning that second set 25-23.
Wavinya returned for Kenya in the third set, and her contribution was immense as she repeatedly went for low saves at floor level while also terrorising the Rwandan back court with powerful spikes.
Her combination with attacker Ann Lowem also won the fans' admiration and after going 4-4, 7-7, 12-12 and 18-18, Kenya finally rebounded with a 25-22 win as the game extended to yet another nail-biting set.
The fourth set turned out to be a breeze for Kenya, and they made only three errors while the Rwandese conceded a number of botched aces.
Wavinya had the last word in the game with a powerful ace that handed Kenya a 25-19 win.
The result saw Rwanda finish in third position on as Botswana and Senegal finished fourth and fifth respectively.
