NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 2 – Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) side Trailblazers’ tactician Geoffrey Omondi was a happy man after negotiating a tricky 3-1 win over Kenya Forest Service in a men’s league tie on Friday afternoon.
The newbies had raced to a 2-0 lead courtesy of a 25-18 and 25-22 win in the first and second sets respectively.
However, the rangers came back guns blazing in the third set, winning 25-20 to take the game to a decider set.
“It was a very tough match…we have never played a tougher one like this. It was a do or die match for us and we are happy to have come through safely,” Omondi said.
The former national women’s team coach further admitted his charges need to learn to cope with pressure if they are to qualify and excel at the play-offs.
“When we are under pressure, sometimes we wilt. This is something we will need to change because the pressure is going to be stronger in the play-offs, especially against established teams,” he said.
Trailblazers clinched the fourth set 25-19 and the coach admits they had to engage a higher gear to stymie KFS’s onslaught.
“They (KFS) really came back strongly in third set. We had to identify their strengths and come up with a plan to contain them. That is why in the fourth set we used our blockers to deal with the threat and it worked,” Omondi said.
Despite having one foot in the play-offs, Omondi admits there is still much work to do ahead of their maiden appearance at the penultimate stage of the league.
“We still need to overcome Nairobi Prisons if we are to make the play-offs. We will be meeting more experienced teams and we need to work on handling the pressure,” he said.
In other matches of the day, Equity Bank trounced Administration Police (AP) Kenya 3-1 to in sets of 25-17, 25-17, 22-25 and 25-21.
Nairobi Prisons won by the same scoreline against Vihiga in sets of 25-18, 25-19, 20-25 and 25-22.
