04 Sep 2018

Yaros men’s team coach, Mmoloki Gaobone has hailed the team’s performanc despite suffering a 3-2 defeat to Kutlwano in an entertaining Mascom Volleyball League encounter at Otse Police College on Sunday afternoon.

The minnows were on course for an upset when they led their more illustrious opponents by three points deep in the deciding set, but surrendered their advantage to lose the set 15-12.

They took the lead by winning the first set 25-22 with former national team star, Odirile Sibanda and Phillip Machira as well as Brian Basimanebotlhe putting Kutlwano under pressure.  Their block was also a marvel to watch as it dealt well with powerful attacks throughout the match. However, Kutlwano fought back and won the second and third sets 25-18 and 25-22 respectively to take a 2-1 lead. But Yaros continued matching their opponents pound for pound and won the fourth set 25-20 to force a deciding set.

The Maun-based team was the better side for much of the deciding set and looked on course for victory after they established a 12-9 lead. But they failed to maintain their momentum when it mattered the most in the closing moments and lost the set and the match.

“We came here with no pressure and aiming to enjoy the game, and we managed to give them a run for their money because we believed that we could win. We identified the mistakes they committed against Spiking Stars on Saturday and aimed to punish those mistakes and we almost succeeded in beating them. Maybe we lacked experience in the decisions we made in the deciding set,” said Gaobone.

He said their performance was a big improvement from their previous matches which showed that the team was getting better.

“All the sets we lost today were with less than five points and we managed to score two sets against them. I was impressed with the boys’ performance because it is a big improvement,” he said.The victory kept Kutlwano’s title hopes alive as they now trail log leaders BDF VI by a single point. On Saturday, Kutlwano had a much easier task beating Spiking Stars 3-0.

On Saturday, Yaros suffered another defeat when they were beaten 3-1 by Mafolofolo in Otse.

In the ladies matches played in Otse over the weekend, Mafolofolo defeated Dynamites 3-1 and Yaros 3-0, Kutlwano beat both Spiking Stars and Yaros 3-0, while BDF VI beat Dynamites 3-1. ENDS