Administration Police assistant coach Richard Lagat has decried challenges they faced during the Kenya Volleyball Federation fourth leg over the weekend.
AP saw one of their matches, against General Service Unit, postponed twice — Thursday and Monday — due to power failures at Kasarani Indoor Arena and Nyayo Stadium.
“The delay affected us psychologically. There was a lot of back-and-forth in the game. Once a player sets his mind on the timing of a match, their performance gets affected when there are changes in scheduling,” said Lagat, whose side AP lost the match in straight sets of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-19.
They have now shifted focus to this weekend’s playoffs at Nyayo Stadium and Kasarani Indoor Arena.
Lagat added: “We have qualified for the quarterfinals, which will be based on the best-of-three matches. If we win, we proceed to the semifinals.”
On Monday, AP beat Kenya Army 3-1 (25-16, 25-15, 16-25, and 25-21) with Lagat saying the soldiers brought the best out of his charges.
“We had opposite hitter Weldon Kipchirchir and setter Edward Wekesa against Kenya Army but they got injuries which forced them out of the GSU match,” said Lagat.
Kenya Army were on the losing end again, falling 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-23) to Trailblazers on Tuesday.
The top eight teams in the men’s and women’s standings will proceed to the playoffs.
GSU finished top of the men’s standings with 36 points, having lost just once in 13 matches. Champions Kenya Prisons followed with 34 points after two defeats.
Kenya Ports Authority (29 points), Kenya Forest Service (27), Kenya Defence Forces (26), Trailblazers (25), Administrative Police (23) and Equity Bank (22) all reached the playoffs. Mombasa Prisosn and Nyanza Prisons were relegated.
Women’s champions KCB remain undefeated at the top with 23 points from eight matches.
Kenya Pipeline (20), Kenya Prisons (19), DCI (14), Nairobi Prisons (10), KDF (10), Postbank (nine) and Kenya Army (three) will play at the playoffs. Bunge, Vihiga and Nairobi Water will play in Division II next season.
Attention has now shifted to the KVF Division Two League with the fourth and final leg set for May 24-26 at Nyayo gymnasium (outdoor).
Twelve teams will compete for the two automatic promotion spots.
The teams include Eldoret Water, Engineers, Central Prisons, Bunge, Vihiga, Pamoja Tujijenge, Micro Spikers, Rapid Deployment Unit, Kenyatta University, Kapu, National Youth Service and Langata High Secondary School.