Former champions Kenya Prisons eye lost glory

Former champions Kenya Prisons are keen to redeem themselves as the
men’s Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) National League play-offs serve off this Friday to Sunday at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.

The 2016 champions blew hot and cold during the regular season and qualified for the play-offs by a whisker.

Prisons had shockingly lost to Kenya Forest Services 3-0, Kenya Defence Forces 3-2 and GSU 3-0 before they found their footing and won against Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and TrailBlazers to nick a place in the play-offs.

And the team’s assistant coach Ibrahim Odour knows this too well.

“Well, the season has been a roller coaster, but I’m just thankful that we qualified for the play-offs. We now have a chance to make the wrongs right. We last won the league title in 2016 when I was still a player and it has been a long wait.

I believe we have a chance to break the monopoly of our rivals and reigning champions General Service Unit( GSU) and reclaim the title,” said Odour.

“The best part of this play-offs is that there are no favourites. All teams have lost against each other and I believe it will go down to who makes few mistakes,” he added.

Prisons finished third with 37 points same as newcomers TrailBlazers, but had a superior set ratio.

Reigning champions GSU and KPA finished in the first and second positions with 40 points each, although the paramilitary side had a better set ratio.

Prisons will begin their title hunt on Friday with a clash against GSU and Odour conceded it will be a cracker.

“We have a chance to return the favour when we play them (GSU). We lost to them in the final leg 3-0, but we made unnecessary mistakes especially in the first set that come back to haunt us, but we have made amends are good to go,” said Odour.

The top two teams at the end of the three-day event will book automatic tickets to the next year’s African Clubs Championships .