Milka Akinyi (no 16) of Kenya Pipeline celebrates with her teammates following their victory over KCB in a Kenya Volleyball Federation National Women's Division One match at Nyayo National Stadium, Gymnasium on June 13, 2026.
As a high-octane match between arch-rivals Kenya Pipeline and KCB was underway at the Nyayo National Stadium Indoor Arena, a student watched tensely from the side.
Unsettled, thoughts raced quickly through her mind. Deep inside, she could not imagine that her team, Kenya Pipeline, would once again fall to KCB in the top Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) Women’s Division 1 clash on Saturday.
KCB tore through Pipeline systems to take the lead in the first two sets 25-15 and 25-22 before the Oilers’ head coach Geoffrey Omondi made a few calls that turned around the duel drastically.
He made substitutions, and Milka Akinyi, a Form Four student from Aluor Girls High School in Siaya County, is one of the players that he brought in. The changes paid dividends.
The 18-year-old left attacker, who stands 6’2 tall would alternate from reception at the back court to attack, and blocking as Pipeline rallied to take the next three sets 25-15, 25-19 and 17-15.
Revenge against KCB
The hard-fought 3-2 victory saw Pipeline claim swift revenge against KCB for their semi-final loss at the Women’s African Volleyball Clubs Championship in Cairo, Egypt in April, this year.
Pipeline would follow up with another victory, beating Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in 3-1, on Sunday to finish the regular season unbeaten in 10 outings and at top of the league standings with 28 points.
At the Africa event, KCB defeated Pipeline in 3-1 sets in the semi-finals, but went on to lose to Egypt’s Al Ahly SC 3-1 in the final as Pipeline settled for bronze, beating CF de Carthage of Tunisia 3-1 in the play-off.
“They haven’t seen anything yet... we are back not only to retain our title but also to recapture the continental title next year,” Akinyi said.
“KCB started strongly with good serves, backcourt play and attack that destabilised our games in the first two sets... I think the fear of losing to them again made us lose concentration,” she added.
Junior Malkia Strikers
Akinyi said pep talk and reinforcement on reception and setting worked wonders as she was tasked with an all-round play.
“I alternated from reception, attack and blocking. Great team work delivered for us... we just couldn’t take another defeat to KCB again,” said Akinyi.
She asked her teammates not to sleep rest on their laurels as the championship moves to the quarter-final stage in Mombasa County in two weeks.
Akinyi has lived, breathed and slept volleyball since she embraced the sport while in Standard Eight at Orunga Primary School in Siaya County and continued playing the game at her current school.
She played for Kenya Defence Forces for six months before Omondi brought her to his Pipeline stable in August last year, after she appeared for Junior Malkia Strikers that won the 2025 Women’s Under-20 African Nations Championship in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
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