Pipeline, Prisons the teams to beat as KVF league begins
The usual suspects are in line to dominate the 2015 Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) national league season, which serves off at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium on Friday morning.
This competition guarantees thousands of local supporters a chance to get entertainment courtesy of top notch competitive duels involving the cream of volleyball talent on the continent, according to KVF’s acting sports organizing secretary Ndirangu Iguanya.
“We have three men and women teams that rank among the top ten on the continent in our leagues. But even these clubs know they will face stiff competition from the other teams in the course of the season,” Ndirangu told Nairobi News.
A total 26 clubs – 16 men and 10 women – are seeking to dethrone Prisons Kenya (men) and Kenya Pipeline (women) as the champions, a challenge Pipeline team manager Onyonyi Kashujaa says his team is ready for.
WELL PREPARED
“We have prepared well for this campaign and having not lost any of our players who helped us win the championship last season, I expect us to retain the women title” Kashujaa said.
Defending champions Prisons Kenya alongside Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), General Service Unit (GSU), Administration Police (AP Kenya), Co-op Bank and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) are tipped to dominate the men’s competition.
The women’s championship should in the meantime, be a battle between arch rivals Kenya Prisons, Kenya Pipeline, Nairobi Water and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).
The competing clubs will navigate 10 rounds of league fixtures scheduled to be contested in 10 different counties across the country over the next nine months.
Thereafter, the top four teams in each league will move into the play-offs to determine the respective league champions.
KVF selected first leg fixtures: (Friday)
Men: Kiambu County v AP Kenya, GSU v Oserian, Prisons Kakamega v Kenya Airways, Forest Rangers v Mount Kenya University (MKU), KDF v Prisons Mombasa, KPA v Finlays, Co-op Bank v Prisons Kenya, Bungoma County v Vihiga County.
Women: MKU v Oserian, KCB v Nairobi Water, Nairobi Queens v Kenya Pipeline, Bungoma County V Kenya Prisons, Kenya Academy v KDF