Prisons' Baraza sets eyes on reclaiming volleyball title

Kenya Prisons Women's Volleyball team’s head coach Josp Baraza is confident they will reclaim the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) Women’s League title from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) when they clash this weekend.

The former champions shocked Kenya Pipeline on Sunday, thumping the African Club championships bronze medalists 3-1 in a tie-breaking semi-final clash to storm the end-of-season playoffs final.

Kenya Prisons had strolled past the Oilers on Friday in an unexpected turn of events, stunning them 3-0 in the first leg of the semi-final encounter.

However, Pipeline reclaimed their mojo in the second leg to stun Prisons 3-1, forcing a tie-breaker that would then determine who would storm to the climactic finale of the playoffs.

It was during the tie-breaking match that the Baraza-led charges showed their prowess, silencing the Oilers who were labeled title favourites.

Baraza, who was at the helm when the Wardeners last lifted the gong in 2021, believes this is their moment to prove their doubters wrong.

“It is my hope that my girls will turn out in the final and reclaim our title. We lost the title in 2022 and 2023 but I’m confident that it will be our time to reign supreme,” said Baraza, who is also the Malkia Strikers assistant coach.

He however insists they must work on their weaknesses if they are to dethrone the reigning champions.

“We still have to work on our serves because they are very important in a game. We will also fine tune our reception and blocks so that we can put in an impressive shift in the final,” noted Baraza.

Baraza recently lost libero Elizabeth Wanyama who was one of his star players remaining from the 2021 title-winning squad, that also comprised Edith Wisa, Mercy Moim and Braxides Agala among others, but he hopes to lead the new contingent of players to glory once again.

The two teams will clash in an exhilarating final that will be played in the best-of-three series format on Friday at the Kasarani Indoor Arena, moving away from the traditional round-robin format playoffs.