Kenya beat Algeria to lift 2011 African cup of nations

20 November 2012

 Nairobi, Kenya, August 25, 2011- Kenya grabbed the 2011 Women’s African Nations Championship cup for the seventh time in their history after beating the defending champions Algeria in the final held at Nazarene Hall in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Wednesday. Egypt gained the bronze medal following their tough encounter against the dark horses Senegal where they won hardly a five set match.   

 Kenya were in devastating form, beating Algeria 3-1 (25-11, 17-25, 25-21, 25-13) in front of a full house at Nazarene that showed earlier in April the victory of the Kenyan team Prisons at the African club Championship. This is the seventh crown for the Kenyans to improve their record at the top of the women volleyball in the continent.

 Cheered on by a massive home crowd that thronged the African Nazarene University Hall, the venue of the competition, Kenya showed their determination to win the match from the first whistle, allowing their opponents no time to settle as they bombarded them continuously to win the set with an impressive 25-11 score line.

 Algeria, who had been rattled by the fast pace of the first set, settled better in the second and won it 25-17 after creating and maintaining a seven point lead.

 The two teams were evenly matched in the third set tying on 5-5, 10-10, 13-13 and 15-15 before Kenya pulled away to take it 25-21.

 The fourth set was an all-Kenyan affair, as the home side raised its game an extra notch, to dominate the exchanges between the two teams to win the set 25-13 after leading 9-4, 24-11.

 In the play-off for position three and four, Senegal, arguably, the most improved team in Africa in recent years, gave the match their best effort but were no match for their more illustrious opponent, Egypt, to whom they lost 2-3 in a five-set thriller to finish fourth. Egypt who are showing signs of recovering from the retirement of their old guards, including legendary Tosson "Tutu", their current head coach, took bronze with a new crop of young players.

Cameroon overcame Tunisia in the fifth position match, while  Botswana trounced  Nigeria in the seventh place match. 

 Cameroon took the fifth position after edging Tunisia 3-2 (16-25,25-19,19-25,29-27,15-9) in a five set thriller that either teams hawed the desire to win. In the end, Cameroon proved the better side in a hotly contested match to emerge fifth, while delegating Tunisia to sixth.

 In the other match, Botswana took the seventh position by beating Nigeria 3-2 (25-22, 12-25, 20-25, 25-16, 15-13) in another entertaining match. The two teams exchanged leads to tie at 2-2 its before Botswana winning the final set with the minimal difference of 2 points.