Rwandese sides steal the show in regional championships as Pipeline loses in finals

Kenya Pipeline ladies volleyball team’s ambition to defend their regional title for a third time suffered a jolt Tuesday following their 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 24-26, 23-25) surprising loss to APR Women in the CAVB Zone V Club Championships finals at Lugogo Indoor Arena, Uganda.

It was a double win for Rwanda whose men military side APR Volleyball Club defeated home mates Rwanda Police by a 3-1 score to emerge the 2025 CAVB Zone V club champions. Rwandan clubs dominated the podium as they claimed four medals with a clean sweep in the men’s category.

Pipeline under coach George Omondi, making his debut on the tournament, slackened from the first set which they had put to bed after some good battle on the court. APR came alive in the last three sets in what was an enthralling show against the Kenyan champions.

The Rwandese team did their due diligence studying their opponents and executing their game plan to near maximum perfection. Pipeline really struggled with blocks against the hard spiking challengers thus often left exposed at the backcourt. The second set particularly saw them lose lots of points and recovery became a problem.

In the last two sets, it was a proper battle with both sides giving as much as they receive. The two sides got points interchangeably with Pipeline errors once again costing them heavily. Even though they pinned APR on occasions, the oil merchants failed to close it out when it mattered.

With the tournament closing in Uganda, two Kenya Pipeline players made it to the awards list. Leonida Kasaya was declared best outside hitter in the week-long tournament with her bomb service on the line and at the net causing all manner of problems in the five matches played. On the other hand, Loice Simiyu was the best server in the just ended tournament with a magnificent display all-rebound in that key department.