30 Jul 2015

Botswana staged a strong come back to upset Kenya 3-2 on Wednesday July 29 to claim seventh position at the men’s African Nations Volleyball Championships in Egypt.

Kenya won the first two sets 25-14 and 25-19 respectively to take firm control of the seventh and eighth place classification match.

However, Manuel Torres’ men produced a stunning recovery and won the next two sets 25-21 and 25-20 to level the contest. 

The Botswana lads then held their nerves in a tightly contested tiebreaker and won it 15-13 to claim victory. Botswana was drawn into a tough pool with hosts Egypt, Algeria and Kenya when the competition commenced on July 22. The team suffered 3-0 thrashings in all their round-robin matches.

After finishing in bottom place in Pool A, the team dropped to the fifth-eighth place classification stage of the competition where it faced Cameroon in the semifinal.

Cameroon won the match 3-0 to condemn Botswana to a seventh and eighth place playoff, which Torres’ team won to salvage some pride.

Meanwhile, hosts Egypt thrashed Mauritius 3-0 while Tunisia edged Algeria 3-2 in the semifinal on Tuesday. ENDS