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Final
Al Ahly African Champions for the fifth time
 Cairo, Egypt, April 10, 2007-: Ahly of Egypt returned the trophy of the twenty second Women’s African Clubs Champions Championship back to Egypt after 4 years following their thriller victory over Pipelines of Kenya in a fantastic final attended by big home spectators at Cairo Stadium complex hall in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday. Ahly raised the number of trophies to 5 championships after they won it for the last time in 2003.
CAVB President Dr.Amr Elwani gave the trophy to the winners with the competition Control committee while Pipelines team won the silver medals. The pervious champions Kenya Commercial Bank won the Bronze medal following their victory over Al Shames of Egypt in the third place match.
The matches were attended by many home spectators and CAVB officials led by CAVB President Dr. Amr Elwani, The Head of sports department in the Ministry of sports Mr. Ibrahim Ataya, Control Committee president Mrs. Fofana Aminata, CAVB representative Mr. Mory Keita, CAVB referee delegate Mr. Mohamed Saidoune and CAVB Technical Director Mrs. Howyda Mondy and Ahly Club Board Member Khalid El Darandaly
It was really a fantastic classic final between Egypt and Kenya as usual when Ahly took the revenge from Pipelines after they lost to that team in the finals of 2004 and 2005 before losing to another Kenyan team KC Bank in 2006. Ahly won this time 3-1 (25-12, 18-25, 25-22, 25-15) in 91 minutes of exciting performance.
Ahly started the match aggressively and used their block of Hagar Badr and Esther Dusu to lead 3-0 and 4-1 before Pipelines improved their backline defense to come near 5-4 before Ahly reached to double score 8-4 by the first technical timeout through the strong spike service of Dusu. Pipelines started to use the wing spiker Catherine Wanjiru but the solid block of Ahly through Mona Badawy maintained the situation for their team 16-9. Pipelines head coach made some  substitutions to improve the reception and digging of his team but Ahly increased the spikes through Sherihan Sameh to end the set 25-12.
The second set showed different picture as the Kenyan team increased the speed of their attacks through the centre Emily Yebei to lead 8-3. Ahly coach substituted the setter Yosra Abdel Karim with the other setter Miral Abdel Karim who led the combinations and used here skilful setting to narrow the point deficit to 10-9 before Pipelines regained the rhythm to lead 16-12. The Kenyans used the reception mistakes of Ahly to lead again 18-13 before Ahly tried to improve their block against the Kenyan rockets of Esther Jepkosgei but the Kenyans reached to their peak performance to end the set 25-18.
At the beginning of the third set Pipelines used their unstoppable hits of Catherine and Esther to lead 5-1 before Ahly worked well again in service through their Nigerian star Esther Dudu to lead 8-6 by the first technical time out. The match became very exciting especially when Ahly led 18-16 by the strong spikes from Noran El Maghawry and Dusu. Ahly continued their attacking rhythm to win the exciting set 25-22.
Ahly continued the same tactics in the fourth set using the strong spike service of Mona Badawy and Sherihan to lead 8-5. They also used the block of Mona to lead 12-6. Pipelines tried to use their big guns Catherine and Esther and their coach changed the setter Rhoda Lyali and played with Janet Wanja but the superior Ahly players in all skills succeeded to stop the attacks and won the set 25-15 and the match 3-1.
Ahly Coach Raouf Abdel Kader was very happy to win the title after he lost three time in the final and was also satisfied with the performance his player showed during the final. “We are happy to win today without our historic star Tahani Tosson after she retired. Today we did good job in serving which disturbed Pipelines and prevented them fropm using their strong attackers by the net.” He said.
Pipelines coach David Lung’aho said that his team was out of form in the final except Kamende who fought to the end. “I think Ahly strong service disturbed our reception today and was the main cause to lose.
In the Bronze Medal match the last competition champions KC Bank stayed in the competition podium but in the third place position this time after they defeated Al Shams of Egypt in straight sets 25-20, 25-19, 25-19 in 69 minutes. The previous champions ended their job quickly through their strong spikers Nafula Palanga and the match scorer with 20 points Docoras Ndasaba, who surprised their less experienced opponent.
The first set showed dominance for KC Bank team through their usual strong attackers specially Jemutai Roich and Docoras Ndasaba so they led all through the set till they won 25- 20. In the second set Shams started to arrange their block by their National team star Injy El Shamy and used the strong attacks of the left attacker Dina Assal to stay near in score till the result reached to 21-18 when the experienced players of KC Bank used their strong hits to win the set 25-19.
The third set showed more activity of the left attacker Nafula Barasa who used her strong attacks from position 2 to lead 8-6. Shams team struggled to save the match through the combinations of the setter Fated El Tokhy but KC Bank team was strong enough to finish the set 25-19 and the match in straight.
KC Bank head coach Paul Bitok was not so happy although he got the bronze because he was playing for the gold. “My team was strong enough to compete for the gold medal in this competition but I think the defeat against Ahly at the end of the preliminary round costs us to lose the semifinal against our arc rivals Pipelines. I’m a little bit satisfied with the final result because we still on the final podium. Our big success in this competition is the high performance of our right attacker Palanga and the superior performance of our star Docoras Ndasaba.” Bitok added.
“I think to be between the final four teams in our first ever international participation is a good result, so I’m satisfied with this result and my team’s performance during the competition.” Said El Shams Head Coach, Hamdy El Shamy. “We had good experience from this competition specially with our young players because the average age of our team is 20 years and we have more than three players less than 17. Today we played good match but the opponent were stronger in attacks and taller than our players but they fought well till the end.” He added.
Individual Awards:
Most Valuablr player (MVP): Catherine Wnjiru (Pipelines- Kenya)
Best Attacker: Docoras Ndasaba (KC Bank- Kenya)
Best Blocker: Emily Yebei (Pipelines- Kenya)
Best Server: Noran El Maghawry (Ahly- Egypt)
Best Digger: Dina Assal (Shams- Egypt)
Best Setter: Yosra Abdel Karim (Ahly- Egypt)
Best Receiver: Sara Talaat (Ahly- Egypt)
Final Ranking
AHLY EGYPT
KENYA PIPELINE
KENYA COM.BANK
ELSHAMS EGYPT
By Tarek Al-Adwar
CAVB Press Officer
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Semifinal
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) |
Day Three
Purely Egyptian and Kenyan Clashes in the semifinal
 Cairo, Egypt, April 6, 2007-: The Semifinal of the twenty second Women’s African Clubs Champions Championship became a classic purely Egyptian Kenyan face of as two club from each country Al Ahly and Al Shams of Egypt, and Pipelines and Kenya Commercial Bank of Kenya secured the qualification ticket to this round after they finished in the first and second places in each of the two preliminary pool ended at Cairo Stadium complex hall in Cairo, Egypt on Friday. Al Ahly took the revenge from KC Bank of who won the final of the last competition and defeated them to end the first round at the top of the pool and both teams qualified to semifinal from pool B. Pipelines ended their first round matches with a new win over Prisons of Ethiopia to lead pool A and qualify with Al Shams of Egypt who achieved their second victory over Injs of Cameroon.
The defending champions KC Bank will meat their Arc rivals Pipelines in a purely Kenyan clash in the semifinal on Sunday, while the semis will feature another purely Egyptian clash between Ahly and Shams.
The match 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.
Al Ahly of Egypt clinched their third victory over KC Bank of Kenya 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-22) in 74 minutes of thriller volleyball in what was called the early final of the competition after both teams met in the final of the last edition in Mauritius 2006. Al Ahly used the artistry of the talent setter Yosra Abdel Karim and the solid backline defense of the libero Sara Talaat who were chosen by their coach as the match stars to end the job quickly in straight sets.
Ahly began the match aggressively in attacks the artistry of the setter Yosra Abdel Karim who led the combinations by the net which was used by the centre Hagar Badr and the wing spiker Noran El Maghawry to win the set 25-20. The second set was more exciting as the Kenyan team arranged their block of Margret Indakla Jackline Barasa to lead for the first time 8-6 by the first technical time out. Al Ahly used the fast combinations to the centers Hagar and Noha Mohamed to lead 16-14 before they manage their block to end the set 25-20. In the third set Ahly opposite attacker Esther Dusu did good job in spiking from position 2 to allow her team to lead 8-6. The efficient spiker Ndasaba used her hits to give her team temporary lead 12-11 before Ahly scored 5 successive points to lead again 16-12. KC Bank coach tried to save the match by some substitutions and he succeeded to adjust the defense to come near 21- 20 before the highly motivated Ahly players won the set 25-22 and the match in straight sets.
“I studied the Kenyan team well before the match and I knew their strong items so my strategy was to stop their attackers by our solid block an d to make our combination by the net,” Said Ahly head coach Raouf Abdel Kader happily. “The strong hits of Noran and the skillful setting of Yosra end the situation for our side in the first two sets. I consider Sara Talaat and Yosra who played after the yesterday’s match injury as the match stars from my side.” He added.
KC Bank Head Coach Paul Bitok saw that all Ahly players were in their top form and hence it is difficult to face a team with this performance. “Our opponent didn’t depend on one attacker like before when Tahani Tosson was playing and this disturbed my team because they didn’t know who will spike in each attack. I didn’t put my strategy yet for the next match against our arc rivals Pipelines but I think we are motivated to repeat what we did in the last years competition when we defeated them and in the semifinal before gaining the trophy.
Pipelines of Kenya continued their victory rhythm and achieved the third win over Prisons of Ethiopia 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-16) in 51 minutes to raise their win- loss ratio to 3-0 and lead preliminary pool A with six point and qualify as usual to the semifinal of the competition for the sixth year in a raw. The Kenyan head coach squaded his main line up with all the senior experience players like Esther Jepkosgei, Catherine Wanjiru and Leonidas Kamende so these players used they talent attacks and won the first set easily 25-15 in 15 minutes. The second set showed improvement in the Prisons block against the strong hits from Pipelines through the middle blocker Petros Genet so they extend the set to 19 minutes as Pipelines won also 25-18 after a group of efficient spikes from the match scorer with 15 points Catherine Wanjiru and the emerging star Agibel Tarus. In the third set prisons player struggled to save the match and improved their attacks through Dessie Rahel and Kebede Fanu. In the same time Pipelines coach used some substitutes from the bench to give them the chance to play in the first round before going to the more important part of the competition. Although the Ethiopian team tried to stop the attacks through improving their defense they couldn’t do that in front of Pipelines rockets and lost the set 25-16 and the match in straight sets.
Pipelines Head Coach David Lung’aho was very happy to end the first round without conceding a set and expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance specially his emerging star Tarus. “We are now waiting for our opponent in the semifinal which is the most important part of the competition. I intended today to use many players from the bench to give them the sensitivity of the match before the critical stage.” He said.
Prisons Head coach Teshome Lemma was very happy with the performance and fighting spirit of his players although he lost in straight sets. He said that his team played that match better than when they achieved their victory over Injs of Cameroon because they have become more familiar with these big competitions. “I think we have become now more prepared for such competition and we have to think of competing for the crown in the coming competition.” Said the Ethiopian coach.
El Shams of Egypt was the last qualifier to the semifinal after their 3-0 victory (25-15, 25-13, 25-22) in their match against Injs of Cameroon. The victory raised the win- loss ratio of Shams to 2-1 to be in the second position of pool A with 5 points while Injs ended the competition at the bottom of the pool with three defeats.
Shams team used the high performance of the middle locker Ingy El Shamy and the strong wing spiker Dina Assal to start the first set aggressively and won 25-15. In the second set Injs improved their block against Shams attack and had the first and last lead in the match 8-6 by the first technical time out after a good performance from the team star Christine Ambassa. Then shams players regained their rhythm to penetrate through the wing spiker and won the set comfortably 25-13. In the third set Shams coach used some of the bench player to give them the experience and so the score became close all through the set and shams won 25-22 to qualify for the first time in history to the semifinal of the competition.
Shams Head coach Hamdy El Shamy considered the game as an easy match so he considered that his players didn’t do their best because they wanted to save their energy to the strong semifinal confrontation against Ahly. “I participated in this match with all the players in the list to give them the experience and to relief the standing players to the semifinal. Ahly is a very good team but we know how to face them like we did in the Egyptian league when we lost narrowly after a tie breaker.” He said.
“We suffered in this competition because we missed two of our main players and I was obligated to use my main setter Gamkoua Asta as a spiker because of this shortage and this decreased consequently the coordination between the setter and our star Ambassa.” Said Injs coavch Armand Nyatcho.
The black horses of the last competition Mafolofolo of Botswana set their competition first victory over Water sports of Ethiopia in straight sets 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 in 66 minutes. The team that qualified to the semifinal in 2006 ended their matches in pool B in the third position and eliminated for the competition with a win – loss ratio of 1-2 leaving Water sports at the bottom of the pool with three defeats. The first set of this match was most exciting in this competition as both teams went point by point till Mafolofolo ended the set 25-23 in 20 minutes after a group of successful hits from the match scorer Dipolelo Nkele who scored 20 points. The second set was the longest as there were more rallies from both teams due to the good reception and digging from both teams in the backline which gave the game more interest. Nkele and Tshepo Serwe led Mafolofolo to win the set 25-18. the third set went the same but after more resistance from Water sports led by the match scorer Addis Yodit who scored 25 points after 22 minutes 25-20.
Mafolofolo head coach Keotsene Odisitse was satisfied with the results and performance of his team in the competition generally and in the match against Water sports specially and said that his team still learning from such competition with the young players involved in the championship. He promised to improve and compete next year.
Water sports Head coach Ebrahim Seiman also happy to participate in this competition after the Ethiopian women teams were absent for a long time from the continental competitions.
Photo Caption:
Ahly Triple block against KC Bank
Ahly vs. KC Bank
Sherihan spiking against KCB
Pipelines vs. Prisons
Shams vs. Injs |
Day Two
KCB, Pipelines and Ahly secured semifinal tickets
Cairo, Egypt, April 5, 2007-: The big favorite teams Kenya commercial Bank and Pipelines of Kenya and Ahly of Egypt achieved their second victory in a raw in the second day of the twenty second Women’s African Clubs Champions Championship in Cairo Stadium complex hall in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday to secure the semifinal spot of the competition. Prisons of Ethiopia were the surprise of the day not only for their first victory over Injs of Cameroon, but also for the emerging performance in the match.
The Kenyan teams KCB and Pipelines defeated Water sports of Ethiopia and Al Shams of Egypt respectively while Ahly smashed Mafolofolo of Botswana all in straight sets.
The match 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.
The defending champions KC Bank of Kenya continued their winning rhythm and achieved their second victory in the competition over Water sports of Ethiopia 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-16) in 59 minutes in Pool B. The Kenyans secured a semifinal spot with a win- loss ratio of 2-0 and play for the top of the pool against Ahly on Friday in an early final similar to that of 2006 competition. The Kenyan team was superior in all volleyball skills all through the match as the
head coach Paul Bitok applied his strategy of using some of his players in different positions. The team used the skills of the star Docoras Ndasaba and Nafula Palanga to go through Water sports Block and succeeded by their block of Palanga and Margret Indakala to stop the attacks of the Ethiopian team.
KC Bank head coach was happy with both the victory and the performance and quickly he began to put his measures for the important clash against Ahly on Friday. “I’m happy to be the first team to qualify to the semifinal and that mean we will be between the best four teams and also happy with the performance of my players who did well in applying my new strategy of playing in different positions than they used to. I’m preparing now to defeat Ahly to finish at the top of the pool or other wise we will be in front of our Arc Rivals Pipelines in the semifinal.” Said Bitok.
Water sports head coach Ebrahim Seiman was happy with his team performance though he lost his two matches in the competition till now but actually he feels that his country is going in the sound way towards the big continental competitions.
Pipelines of Kenya used their big guns Catherine Wanjiru the match scorer with 16 points and Esther Jepkosgei who scored 11 points to set their second victory in a raw in Pool A over the organizers Al Shams of Egypt 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-18) in 69 minutes and secured the second ticket to the semifinal from Pool A. The Kenyan team that has the record of trophies of this competition began the match by the most experienced players Catherine Wanjiru, Leonidas Kamende and EstherJepkosgei as they dominated the first set all through and win easily 25- 14. The second set showed improved backline defense and reception that allowed them to build up the attacks to the middle blocker Ingy El Shamy and the left attacker Dina Assal. Shams became near in points but the experienced Kenyan players ended the situation at the end 25-20. The third set showed the best performance for the organizers as they improved their block against the strong attacks of Pipelines so they led 8-3 before the Kenyan team regained the rhythm of the attacks to draw 10-10. Both teams continued the thriller match till the last draw 17-17 when the strong attacks of Esther and Catherine to win the set 25-18.
“I’m happy to qualify to the semifinal and to play this interesting match against the promising Shams team. Actually this team plays good volleyball and were near us in the match,” Said Pipelines head coach David Lung’aho. “I respected the opponent so I used the senior players like Esther and Catherine to win and to give them the competition experience before the critical matches in the finals.” He added.
Shams head coach Hamdy El Shamy referred the result to the big difference in experience between his team and pipelines that had the record of victories in this competition. “We didn’t play well today because simply we met a much strong team and we missed the performance of our star Ingy El Shamy because she was ill yesterday. We want to win our match tomorrow against Injs of Cameroon to qualify to the semi final which will be good result for us.” He said.
Al Ahly of Egypt needed only 56 minutes to clinch a straight sets victory over Mafolofolo of Botswana (25-14, 25-17, 25-15) in a repeated semi final of the last competition in Mauritius 2006. The winners used their strong service to stop the attacks of Botswana team till they controlled the first set 2514 easily after a group of skilful setting from the experienced setter Yosra Abdel Karim. Mafoflofolo improved in the second set after their better reception and after the injury of Ahly setter. The Botswana champions used also the tall centre player Tsholofelc in the fast combinations. Ahly improved their reception and digging through the libero Sara Talaat to build the attacks to the left attackers Sherihan Sameh and Noran El Maghawry and so they won the set 25-17 but with more points for there opponents. Ahly coach Raouf Abdel Kader changed some of the standing players and used others to goive them the experience like Nahala Sameh, the setter Miral Raouf and Miral Raouf and he could win the third set 25-15.
“Now the competition is defined between the Kenyan and Egyptian teams in the semi final,” Said Ahly Head coach Raouf Abdelkader. “The match tomorrow against KC Bank is only to escape from meeting Pipelines in the semi final and to postpone this to the final. I think we will miss two important players Yosra and Nada due to injury during this match but I hope here colleague do their job tomorrow if they fail to recover.” He added.
Mafolofolo Head Odisitse Keotsene stated that his team played much better than the first match especially in reception and block. He added that his team is still learning from the participation in these big competitions.
Prisons team of Ethiopia showed the promising face of the Ethiopian volleyball when they smashed Injs of Cameroon 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-20) in 60 minutes after superior performance from the Ethiopian youngsters who proved that their country will come soon to compete for a good place in the continental women’s volleyball. The winners used the efficient spikes of their wing spiker Petros Genet who was the match scorer with 14 points to win easily the first set 25 -17 in 19 minutes. The spirit of the Prisons team increased after their first set win so they increased the speed of their attacks led by the skillful setter Giegzi Tersit and began to apply the fast attacks to win the second set also 25-18 in 21 minutes. The third set was the best for Injs team as they improve4ed their block and backline defense against the attacks of prisons and used the spikes of Christine Ambassa the right attacker to narrow the point deficit all through the set until Prisons used again Genet and Kebede Fanu to penetrate their opponent defense and win the set 25-20 and the match in straight sets.
The head coach of prisons Lemma Teshome was cheered after the match and satisfied with his team performance after he was sad in the first day following his defeat against Shams. He stated that his team applied his strategy in this match so they had their first victory.
On the other hand Injs head coach Armand Nyatcho saw that his team is gaining the experience this time because they don’t have mature players having the international experience to compete. |
Day One
All Big Forces Achieved their first Victory
 Cairo, Egypt, April 4, 2007-: All the big favorite teams achieved wide victories over their opponent as the defending champions Kenya Commercial Bank, the last competition runner up Al Ahly of Egypt and the bronze medalists of the last competition Pipelines have comfortable wins in the first day of the twenty second Women’s African Clubs Champions Championship in Cairo Stadium complex hall in Cairo Egypt on Wednesday. The organizers El Shams of Egypt sets also the first ever victory in their first participation in the African championships.
CAVB President Dr. Amr Elwani opened the competition in presence of Ministry of Sports Representative, 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.
The defending champions KC Bank of Kenya started the competition in good form to show the opponents that they are coming to a new title in their history as they defeated Mafolofolo of Botswana 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-17) in 62 minutes in Pool B. The Kenyan team used their prominent stars specially Docoras Ndasaba and Margret Indakala to win the first set widely 25-12 and the second set 25-14 using their disciplined backline defense and good reception which ended usually by good attacks by the net. Mafolofolo came to the match in the third set when they used their opponent mistakes in reception and digging to build up the attacks which were used by their attackers Gaoleseletse and Tsholofelo successfully. They stayed near in the score 8-6 and 12-10 till the Kenyan team regained the rhythm and won the set 25-17 after their coach Paul Bitok made some substitutions.
“It is a good start for our team in the competition,” Said KC Bank Head coach Paul Bitiok after the match. “I used some main players in positions different than they used to play before to test them before the critical matches in the competition because we will play here every match under pressure of being the defending champions. My star today was Docoras Ndasaba who did very well in attacks.” Bitok added.
Mafolofolo Head Coach Odistise Keotsene stated that his team still has a hope to qualify to the semifinal. “We had problems in reception today that disturbed our tactics but we will improve in the coming matches.” He said.
The last competition bronze medalists Pipelines of Kenya clinched another fruitful victory for their country which has alone more than half of the continental titles after they defeated Injs of Cameroon in straight sets 25-10, 25-13, 25-17 in 49 minutes in Pool A. Pipelines dominated the first set easily using their strong spikes of Cathrine Wanjiru the match scores with 13 points and Lucy Chege and penetrated easily Injs block to win the set 25-10. In the second set Injs improved they reception but still Pipelines attacks was dominating and they used their experience to win the set 25-13. The third set was the best for Cameroon team as they improved their reception and block against the experienced opponent and used their strong spikes of Christine Ambassa their scorer in the match to narrow the point deficit many times. Pipelines started to use the experienced middle blocker Leonidas Kamende to dominate the net and won the set 25-17.
Injs Coach Armand Nyatcho referred the defeat to lack of experience in comparison to the Kenyans. “My team includes only two players experienced with the international competitions but the others are very young school girls who did their best but need sometime to reach the international experience.” Said Armand.
Pipelines Head Coach David Lung’aho said that he is very happy to win 3-0 in the first match and he chooses his team captain Catherine Wanjiru as the match star. “Our middle blocker didn’t show their well known performance today and we hope to improve in the next matches before we reach the critical matches in the competition.” He said.
Al Ahly of Egypt who won four titles before, pulled of a straight sets victory over Water Sports of Ethiopia 25-13, 25-18, 25-6 in 90 minutes in Pool A. In the first set Al Ahly used their strong attackers Esther Dusu from position 2 and Sherihan Sameh from position 4 to win many points and they used also the weak reception to stop the Ethiopian attacks to win the set 25-13. Water sports came to the match in the second set when they used their strong spikers Loha Diniknesh and Addis Yodit to reach to 8-6 in the first technical time out and 18-15 but Ahly controlled the match after that through the middle blocker Mona Badawy and the wing spiker Noran Elmaghawry and won the set 25-18. The professional Nigerian player in Ahly Esther Dusu did well in the third set specially in spiking from position 2 aided by the skillful setting of Yosra Abdelkarim to win the easiest set 25-6.
Although he won in straight sets Ahly head Coach Raouf Abdelkader was impressed with the performance of the Ethiopian players. “Their standard was much improved than the last time they participated in 2003. I’m happy to win the match in the opening day because it will give us a push before the next more difficult matches because this competition showed many teams playing moderen volleyball.
Though he lost, Water sports head coach Ebrahim Seiman was happy with his team performance against a big team like Ahly. “We played a good game against a team full of experienced players but we showed good volleyball specially Addis Yodit and the team captain Abadi Mulubrehan.” He said.
In the most competitive match of the day El Shams of Egypt sets their best ever victory over the promising Prisons of Ethiopia in straight sets 25-20, 25-6, 25-16. The first set showed the most exciting volleyball as result went very near till Shams reach to 8-6 in the first technical time out after a group of efficient spikes of Dina Assal and Ingy El Shamy. Prisons improved their backline defense and used their middle blocker Kebede Fanu and the wing spiker Dessie Rahel to maintain their score near till 20-18 for Shams. The organizers succeeded thereafter to win the set 25-20. The second set became one side towards Shams as they led 10-0 using the frequent mistakes of Prisons in reception. El Shams continued their strong spike service of Assal and Dina El Bitar in the second set to win easily 25-6. Shams continued using the spike service to lead 8-3 and 16-9. They won the third set 25-16 after some struggle from prisons team.
Shams Head Coach Hamdy Elshamy was very happy with the victory and his team performance especially in serving and spiking. He said that the tactical spike service and the good backline defense were the main factors for the victory.
On the other hand Prisons Head Coach wasn’t satisfied with his team performance. “We had many problems in reception, blocking and defense and so we missed many points by our mistakes.” He said.
Day Two Programme:
Pool A: Injs (Cameroon) vs. Prisons (Ethiopia), Al Shams (Egypt) vs. Pipelines (Kenya).
Pool B: KC Bank (Kenya) vs. Water sports (Ethiopia), Mafolofolo (Botswana) vs. Ahly (Egypt) |
The Defending Champions KCB Meets Mofolofolo of Botswana in the opening
 Cairo, Egypt, April 3, 2007-: The strongest Women's African Cup of Clubs Champions will start on Wednesday with tough matches when the defending Champions KC Bank of Kenya meets Mofolofolo of Botswana the fourth of the last championship in the opening day of the twenty second edition of the competition held at the Cairo Stadium Complex in Cairo, Egypt. The opening day will feature also three other matches as the runner up of the last competition Ahly of Egypt meets Water sports of Ethiopia, the 2006 bronze medalists Pipelines of Kenya vs. Injs of Cameroon and Prisons of Ethiopia vs. Shams of Egypt.
The drawing of lots held on Tuesday in the Egyptian Olympic Committee Hall in Cairo and led by CAVB President Dr. Amr Elwani, 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. The eight teams participating in the competition were divided into two pools, pool A includes Shams (Egypt), Injs (Cameroon), Prisons (Ethiopia) and Pipelines (Kenya) and Pool B Kenya Commercial Bank (Kenya), Water sports (Ethiopia), Al Ahly (Egypt) and Mafolofolo (Botswana).
The defending champions Kenya Commercial Bank of Kenya comes as one of the big favorites for the title after they had good preparation under supervision of their efficient coach Paul Bitok. “We want to clinch our second trophy in our short history after we had the surprise in the last edition,” Said the promising coach Bitok. “We want to give the cup to the soul of our big star Violet Baraza who passed away last month. We had now a good competitive team including many experienced stars like Docoras Ndasaba, Doris Palanga and Doris Muyekho and some young stars like Esther Mombe and Mercy Moim.” He added.
Pipelines team the most titled team in the competition with 6 cups on their name will be a great favorite as usual with their star studded team led by Jannet Wanja, libero Mercy Wesutila who is making a come back after a short break and veteran Judy Serenge along with Esther Chepkosgei. “I hope to see a purely Kenyan Face of in the final between K C Bank and my team," Said Pipelines Coach David Lung’aho.
Al Ahly of Egypt want to retain the cup they won for the last time in 2003 after they were runner up in the last two competitions in 2004 and 2005. "We used the local league to prepare for this competition as we played many matches which helped the team to reach the peak of performance" Said Ahly coach Raouf Abdel Kader.
Both Kenyan teams had proper preparations in Nairobi, Kenya last month and are ready to keep the trophy in they country for the fourth year in a raw after Pipelines gained the trophy in 2004 and 2005 before Kenya Commercial bank put their name on the champions list for the first time in 2006.
Injs Volleyball club of Cameroon comes also as big favorites with their international players who had a great experience in the last World Championship in Japan 2006. The last competition semifinalists Mafolofolo of Botswana come to the competition hoping a better ranking than the fourth position they had in 2004.
Ethiopia will be represented by two clubs; Prisons Administration and Water Sport Association in the framework of their National Federation development programme to participate in all continental competitions after their women's team participated also in Zone 5 qualifications to All Africa Games last month.
Ghalia Chlef and Plateau Rocks of Nigeria sent a last minute withdrawal from the competition after they registered and so the competition lost two star studded team who was in good form to compete. |
9 teams compete for the trophy in the strongest competition in History
 Cairo, Egypt, April 2, 2007-: Nine famous clubs will compete together for the trophy of the strongest ever African Women's Cup of Clubs Championship known to start in Cairo, Egypt 4-10 April in the big Cairo Stadium Hall in Cairo including the last three teams of the podium of the last competition In Mauritius 2006.
The defending champions Kenya Commercial Bank of Kenya comes as one of the big favorites for the title after they had good preparation under supervision of their efficient coach Paul Bitok who clinched the last competition after great performance against their Arch Rivals Pipelines which is the most titled team in this competition with six cups and their big competitors in the final Al Ahly of Egypt who had 5 titles under their belt.
Both Kenyan teams had proper preparations in Nairobi, Kenya last month and are ready to keep the trophy in they country for the fourth year in a raw after Pipelines gained the trophy in 2004 and 2005 before Kenya Commercial bank put their name on the champions list for the first time in 2006.
Al Ahly of Egypt the last non Kenyan champions in 2003 entered a camp in the last three weeks after they gained the Egyptian title seeking a new title in front of their usually excited spectators. Egypt will be represented by another club El Shams who came second in the local Egyptian league following Al Ahly.
Injs Volleyball club of Cameroon comes also as big favorites with their international players who had a great experience in the last World Championship in Japan 2006. The last competition semifinalists Mafolofolo of Botswana come to the competition hoping a better ranking than the fourth position they had in 2004.
Ethiopia will be represented by two clubs; Prisons Administration and Water Sport Association in the framework of their National Federation development programme to participate in all continental competitions after their women's team participated also in Zone 5 qualifications to All Africa Games last month.
Plateau Rocks will represent Nigeria with their national team stars preparing to defend their title in All Africa games they achieved in their homelands in Abuja 2003.
Ghalia Chlef sent a last minute withdrawal from the competition after they registered and so the competition lost a star studded team who was in good form to compete.
The nine teams will be divided into two preliminary pools from which the top two teams qualify to the semifinal for the last four positions.
"We hope to have a good competition at the start of CAVB competitions in 2007," Said CAVB Technical Director Howyda Mondy. "The standard of the teams in this competition will reflect the beneficial effects of the participation of three African teams in the last World Championship as the three countries are represented with their clubs which are Kenya, Egypt and Cameroon." She added.
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KCB, Kenya Pipeline train for the competition
 Nairobi, Kenya, March 12: Defending champions Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and local arc rivals Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) women volleyball teams have embarked on preparations for the African Women Club Volleyball Championships set for Cairo, Egypt 1- 15 April 2007.
The two teams are both shaping up in non residential training at the modern Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani under the watchful eyes of their coaches Paul Bitok (KCB) and David Lung’aho (KPC).
Speaking at Kasarani, Bitok who led the KCB team to victory during last year’s Club Championships held in Mauritius when they beat the dreaded Al Ahly from Egypt said so far he was impressed with the performance of the girls during training.
“As you can see we have injected new blood in the team but to my surprise they have fitted in well and the training has been going on very smoothly,” said Bitok who is a former international player and the first coach in Kenya to learn the VIS technology.
The youthful KCB coach whose side was recently named as 2006 Sports Team of the Year in Kenya after sweeping virtually all titles locally and inaugural beach volleyball title in East Africa said currently he was working on endurance before embarking on the technical aspect of the game.
“My priority is to instil fitness in the players by taking them through endurance. Once I am satisfied that they are physically in good shape, I will move to the next step bearing in mind that we have very little time left before we travel,”Bitok said.
He pointed out that the team was generally intact with the players who did duty during the last championships in Mauritius ready to successfully defend the title amid strong challenge from KPC and teams from North Africa who are determined to end Kenya’s dominance.
KCB Team Manager David Kimosop pointed out that they were working on a crush program whereby the coach will be naming the team at least a week before they jet out for the title defense.
Among the experienced players in the KCB squad are former Telkom Kenya international Dorcas Ndasaba, national team regular Salome Wanjala, Halima Bakari and Rose Odwako who is a very experience libero player.
In the KPC camp, coach Lung’aho who has since been replaced as national women team coach by Sammy Kirongo will heavily rely on experience from national team centre player Jannet Wanja, libero Mercy Wesutila who is making a come back after a short break and veteran Judy Serenge along with Esther Chepkosgei.
“My team is intact save for one player who has left for the United States on a scholarship. The players are presently focused in training with our main target being to reclaim the title which we surrendered last year after losing to KCB in the semi final in Mauritius,” said Lung’aho.
“A lot of water has passed under the bridge and what happened in Mauritius last year is now history. With the kind of response I am seeing during training, our opponents should prepare for a bruising battle,” said Lung’aho whose side includes the pint size Tindi who was unearthed during the East and Central Africa Volleyball Championships held in Nairobi in December 2005.
KPC Team Manager Wanja Kanyi said the girls have shown dedication and seriousness during training and the final team which will travel will be composed of players who can fight to the bitter end and bring the trophy back to the club.
From Jack Kwemba, Nairobi-Kenya |
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