Reigning national league champions Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) secured a convincing 3-0 victory (28-26, 26-24, 25-21) against arch-rivals Kenya Prisons Queens at the Moi Stadium, Kasarani Indoor Arena.
This hard-fought win leveled the series at 1-1, setting the stage for an exhilarating best-of-three series tiebreaker on Sunday at the same venue.
KCB had suffered a 3-0 defeat (24-26, 16-25, 17-25) to Kenya Prisons on Friday, but KCB Coach Japheth Munala attributed the turnaround to his players sticking to the game plan after intense review and reflection on the opener.
Munala praised standout performances by players Juliana Namutira and Esther Mutinda, stating, “Namutira and Mutinda pulled forces that saw the team outperform Prisons. I’m positive of a good finish on Sunday as well.”
Expressing gratitude to his team for their effort and deserved victory, Munala emphasized the importance of tightening their game for the upcoming match on Sunday. Meanwhile, Kenya Prisons women’s head coach Joseph Baraza acknowledged their struggles in the match, indicating a need for improvement ahead of the next encounter.
“We started on a low. I am, however, optimistic of a different result tomorrow. I had high expectations but my team failed to deliver,” he said. Despite the loss, Baraza said he remains hopeful ahead of Sunday’s decider.
He added: “All is not lost. We hope to make amends before the deciding match. I believe we still have a chance to win the league title,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Kenya Pipeline also clinched the bronze after defeating the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-22).
