Pipeline book African Champs Round of 16 slot in Tunisia

The six-time African champions were the first off the blocks with a 25-21 win in the first set before the Algerians threw a spanner in the works winning the second set in 25-20. The Kenyans then regrouped to claim the third and fourth sets in 25-18 and 25-21 respectively.

Monday’s win was their second in Pool “C” after Saturday’s 3-1 triumph against Chief Naval Staff Spikers from Nigeria.

The local league champions will finish their preliminary matches against DEC of Ivory Coast on Wednesday before the last 16 start on Thursday.

Meanwhile, KCB head coach Japheth Munala has rolled his sleeves ahead of what he has termed as a crucial stage for the reigning champions.

Speaking after guiding his charges to the Round of 16 with a match to spare and a hundred percent win record on Sunday, Munala said the championship would get tough in the coming days.

“We'll build more consistency from set to set within a match as well as match to match,” he quipped.

The Bankers launched their title defence with a convincing 3-0 win over Cameroon's Nyong Et Kelle Volleyball Dames in their first Pool B fixture last Friday before dismissing National Alcohol of Ethiopia 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-9) on Sunday.

The defending champions play Senegal's Asac Salitique on Tuesday in the final preliminary fixture.

"It's still early days and not the time to say or predict how it'll go in Nabeul. It is quite right, of course, to take one step at a time.

"It’s been good for us so far and we are hoping to win the next match in the pool against the Senegalese team on Tuesday," Munala quipped.

Munala also heaped praises on his youngsters led by Pauline Chemutai saying their presence in the squad is allowing them to make strides to a productive and resilient outfit.