Unbeaten Prisons, Pipeline eye quarters

What you need to know:

  • To avoid meeting together at the quarter finals, Prisons and Pipeline will have to both finish top of their groups.
  • Prisons coach David Lung’aho has stuck to the same squad of six players in his first two games, and this is not expected to change in Friday’s game.

Kenya Prisons and Kenya Pipeline teams will be seeking to make it three wins on the trot when they take on Douannes of Burundi and DGSP of Congo respectively in their second last group games of the 2018 Women’s Africa Club Volleyball Championship.

Prisons will face Douanes at 5pm at the Al Ahly Sports Hall in Cairo, Egypt, while Pipeline will play DGSP at the venue an hour later.

The two Kenyan representatives are both in good position to qualify for the tournament’s last eight, having won their first two matches.

Prisons eased past Customs of Nigeria 3-0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-15) in their opening match on Wednesday night, while their local rivals Pipeline swept aside hosts and favourites El shams (Egypt) 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-21) on Tuesday.

The Kenyan sides also won their matches on Thursday, with Prisons beating Asec Mimosas of Cote d'Ivoire 3-0 while Pipeline dropped a set against Uganda's Vision Club but strolled to a 3-1.

These results have left five-time champions Prisons leading their Pool D table, while Pipeline are positioned second in Pool C FAP of Cameroon who are also unbeaten in the competition.

MUST TOP GROUPS

To avoid meeting together at the quarter finals, Prisons and Pipeline will have to both finish top of their groups.

Prisons coach David Lung’aho has stuck to the same squad of six players in his first two games, and this is not expected to change in Friday’s game.

Under the captainship of Kenyan international Mercy Moim, the experienced libero Elizabeth Wanyama and talented setter Joy Lusenaka, Lung’aho has a team capable of fending off the Congolese challenge as they march to the quarterfinals.

Lusenaka is stepping into the shoes of experienced setter Jane Wacu who is away on attachment with Seychellois club Anse Royale (ARSU), while Wanyama has just returned from a year-long maternity leave and is eager to prove herself on the court.

Pipeline coach Japheth Munala on the other hand has been more enterprising, as he rested setter Janet Wanja and summoned the budding Rose Magoi in Thursday’s encounter against Vision Club of Uganda.

Wanja is likely to return to the starting team as Munala seeks to enhance his team’s chances of reclaiming the continental title.