Kutlwano lift Mascom volleyball league title
Lekopanye Mooketsi | Monday December 1, 2014 10:55
The robust warm-up before was enough signal that a mini-war is looming. The see-saw battle in the first set, narrowly won by Kutlwano indicated that it was going to be a tight contest.
The second set was like a replay of the first, but buoyed by their 1-0 lead, Kutlwano seemed to be having the edge. At one point there was a 24-24 stalemate but Kutlwano managed to overpower their opponents, 26-24 to extend their lead.
This spelt trouble for Mafolofolo and made the third set a do or die affair for them. They did not have it easy as Kutlwano’s Karabo Molefha was devastating with his spikes. Eventually, Mafolofolo won the tie as vociferous Kutlwano supporters complained about the umpire.
In the fourth set, Mafolofolo seemed to be losing their grip with Kutlwano racing to a 10-4 lead. The officials halted the match to clarify some technical issues. At 21-10, Kutlwano supporters started doing the victory lap, because they knew Mafolofolo would never recover from the onslaught. Kutlwano went on to wrap the match 3-1.
Mafolofolo coach, Kabo Ntshinogang said the bottom line is that his team needs new players. He said the players that they have been using have been serving for a long time. “We only have one setter. We can’t play well,” he said. Otherwise, Ntshinogang said his team did not play badly. “This was the best we could have done,” he said. Kutlwano coach, Isaac Samuel said the game went according to plan. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we were prepared,” he declared.
He said their strategy was to serve hard in order to deny their opponents an opportunity to pass. “We knew they are good at the centre. If we served hard they would not have a chance to set for the centre. It worked for us,” he explained.
Samuel applauded his opponents for putting up a brave fight. “Mafolofolo is a big team that we have to respect. They have won the championship before. We can’t say we don’t respect them,” he said. He added that Mafolofolo has good players like captain, Tsholo Retshabile.