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Ahly and Pipelines to final Spot
 Cairo,
Egypt, April 8, 2007-: Again it is a new Kenyan- Egyptian clash
as usual in the final of the twenty second Women’s African Clubs
Champions Championship between the record holders with six
crowns Pipelines of Kenya and the four times champions Al Ahly
of Egypt after both teams clinched valuable victories over their
arc rivals Kenya Commercial Bank and Shams of Egypt respectively
in the semifinal matches at Cairo Stadium complex hall in Cairo,
Egypt on Sunday. Al Ahly will meet Pipelines in a classic final
on Tuesday while KC Bank plays Shams for the bronze medal.
The matches was attended by many home spectators and CAVB
officials led by Control Committee president Mrs. Fofana
Aminata, CAVB Vice President Mr. Baba Sy, CAVB representative
Mr. Mory Keita, CAVB referee delegate Mr. Mohamed Saidoune and
CAVB Technical Director Mrs. Howyda Mondy and Shams Club
President Abdel Moneim El Malah.
In a fantastic purely Kenyan semifinal Pipelines of Kenya used
the strong rockets of their left attacker Catherine Wanjiru and
the impermeable block of the superb centre Leonidas Kamendi to
come from 1-2 in sets against their arc rivals Kenya Commercial
Bank to bring a thriller victory after the competition’s first
tie break 25-18, 15-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-9 in two hours of
exciting volleyball that made the audience on their toes. Really
it was a match like a dream but finally Pipelines took the
revenge after a year when they lost in the same stage of the
competition 2-3 in last edition In Mauritius 2006. Away from the
defeat the losers showed very modern volleyball led by the match
scorer with 27 points Jemutai Rotich and one of the competition
best players Docoras Ndasaba.
 The
first set showed early dominance for KC Bank as they used then
artistry of their talent spiker Dorcas Ndasaba and Jemutai
Rotch, but quickly Pipelines came to the match as their coach
arranged the block of Emily Yebei and Leonidas Kamende to stop
their attacks and led the match after that to win the first set
25-18. In the second set the scenario was different as the
losers of the first set maintained their performance steady and
used the strong hits of the right attacker Nafula Palanga to
penetrate the Pipelines block. They also improved their
reception which leads to more combinations in attacks led by the
talent setter Halima Bakari. KC Bank led the match afterwards
and their team captain Ndasaba showed an excellent performance
to end the set to her side 25-15.
The third set was more exciting as both teams went point by
point till Pipelines led 8-7 by the first technical time out. KC
Bank players became more motivated so their star Ndasaba
continued her high performance and scored many critical points
till they led 23-18. The libero of KC Bank Oba Kozue played a
great role in reception and digging to allow her team to win the
set 25-22. The fourth set showed the same interest as Pipelines
used their strong left attackers Catherine Wanjiru and Esther
Jepkosgei to led 8-7 before KC Bank regained their performance
and used Palanga, Rotich and Bakari to come near and lead 16-14.
Pipelines increased their activity to save the match so they
steadily led the match through their middle blockers till they
won the set 25-21 to extend the match to tie break. The tiebreak
showed the competition most exciting show in the competition as
Pipelines stared leading 3-1 by the spikes of Esther and Tarus
who did a good job as usual. KC Bank used their big gun Ndasaba
to draw many times till the result reached to 6-6 before
Pipeline led 8-6 before changing the court. KC Bank players fell
in many reception and spiking mistakes, and this allowed
Pipelines to go through and used their efficient middle blocker
Leonidas Kamendi to stop many KCB attacks till they won the set
15-9.
 Pipelines
Head coach David Lung’aho was very cheered with this victory
because his players apply his strategy well in the fourth set
and tie break after they were back 2-1 in sets. “We had bad
reception in the first, second and third sets due to the strong
services of KCB and that allowed them to lead, but we improved
the reception in the fourth set to return back to the match. I
consider my centre player Leonidas Kamendi as the match star
because she had 4 critical points in the tie break through her
solid block and this brings the victory to our side. I think the
final will be easier than the match today because to play
against my home team is very difficult as to face a team that
knows everything about you.” Said Lung’aho after the match.
On the other hand KCB Head coach Paul Bitok mentioned that the
injury of his opposite player Palanga was the main reason to
lose the match. But the young promising coach was very happy
with his team’s performance and spirit all through the long
match. “I want to thank my players for their fighting and hard
work through the match and till the last moment. I think my
players started the match psychologically affected after we lost
against Pipelines in the last league match in Kenya but when
they concentrated after the first set the performance became
better. Now my objective is to win the bronze medal to stay in
the podium.” Said Bitok.
In the second semifinal the runner up of the last competition Al
Ahy used their experienced stars Yosra Abdel Karim, Sherihan
Sameh and Noran El Maghawry to defeat their Arc rivals Al Shams
in straight sets 25-13, 25-22, 25- in another purely Egyptian
face of lasing 63 minutes.
The first set passed easily for Ahly with the support of big
attendance of their spectators and they used the strong service
to disturb the reception of Shams team to win the set
comfortably 25-13.
The second set showed more concentration for Ahly players as
they started to use the combinations led by the skillful setter
Yosra Abdel Karim who distributed to the centre Hagar Badr and
the wing spiker Noran El Maghawry and succeeded to lead 8-4 and
16-9. Shams struggled and tried to use the left attacker Dina
Assal and the centre Ingy El Shamy and succeeded to stop Ahly
attacks and thus they came near 19-16. Ahly arranged their
backline defense again to win the set more tightly 25- 22. The
third set started very competitive as Shams improved their
defense and their setter Doaa Orfy did good job in the fast
combinations by the net to Dina El Bitar and Assal to come near
11-9 before Ahly players finished the set 25-14.
“The match was one side game for us because we led the match
from the start technically and tactically,” Ahly head coach
Raouf Abdel Kader. “Shams team was less in attacks so their
coach depended on the service to disturb us and this coated them
to lose many services. Our strategy depended on using our strong
wing spikers and so my star today was Sherihan Sameh who made a
fantastic performance today. We are looking forwards now to win
the final and regain the cup after 4 years since our last title
in 2003.
Shams head coach Hamdy El Shamy considered that his opponent was
much better in attack and defense so they could control the
match from the start. “Our main setter Faten El Tokhy was not in
here known performance today so our attacks were affected. I
think we are happy with our performance in this competition as
the first at the international level, but for Ahly they are more
experienced with such competitions.”
Final Day Programme:
On Tuesday,
Final Ahly (Egypt) vs. Pipelines (Kenya)
3rd and 4th positions: KC Bank (Kenya) vs. Shams (Egypt)
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