25 Jul 2016

Police VI continued their challenge for the Mascom Volleyball League title with an impressive 3-2 victory over defending champions Kutlwano July 23.

The cops fought from 2-1-down to secure a win in an entertaining top of the table clash played at Ditshupo Hall. The two sides played at full throttle with fast and powerful attacks.

Veteran Shadrack Kapeko, Tiroyaone Otimile and setter Mishecil Mutumbirwa inspired Kutlwano to a 25-22 first set lead.

But former Kutlwano setter Tjiyapo Madeluka and fellow Police attackers conjured a fight back and snatched the second set 25-20. Thabang Ramochele, Kapeko and Otimile scored crucial points as Kutlwano regained the lead with a 25-20 win of the third set.

Police comprehensively dominated the fourth set 25-16 to force a deciding set.  The likes of Happy Ribbin, Aleck Angeleton and Tshepo Ikaneng  were on top of their game as the cops recovered from 8-6 deficit to win a tense deciding set 18-16.

Police coach Shimaka Ngwanaotsile praised the performance of his team though he felt they were sloppy in their passes. “I was happy with our performance even though our pass was a little bit lacking. It was our plan to win all our games in the first round so that we can have little pressure in the second round,” he said.

Kutlwano coach Isaac Samuel bemoaned the umpire’s antics after the loss. He said his team was robbed by poor refereeing. “He kept intimidating my players by continuously calling them over while he did nothing about Police players.

This game was a potential title decider and should have been handled by an international referee,” Samuel said. In other games, BDF VI were too strong for Kalavango whom they handed a 3-0 thrashing, while Mag Stimela defeated Prisons 3-0.

In the ladies league, defending champions Kutlwano recovered from one set down to trounce BDF VI 3-1.  Lee Tshipana’s team fought bravely to capture the first set 25-22. But the youthful army side couldn’t provide answers once the ‘Big House’ gathered momentum.

Mafolofolo beat Kalavango 3-0 while Spiking Stars beat Selebi Phikwe 3-0. Ends