03 Apr 2022

Kalavango women have salvaged positive pointers that will improve their play in the preliminary stage of the ongoing volleyball tournament.

Kalavango coach, Isaac Thengelani, revealed this in an interview after suffering a 1-3 defeat to BDF VI on Saturday.

Thengelani said Kalavango remained a force to reckon with and would re-group to up their game.

“We will go back, work on our mistakes to come up with something positive. The team lacks mental strength and therefore the players need motivation in order to persevere,” said Thengelani.

So far, Thengelani said the team had played only two matches,  therefore there was ample time to regroup.

“We must focus on endurance so that we maintain momentum and focus throughout the game. We are going back to work on our mistakes,” he said.

Despite the loss, Thengelani said the team morale remained high as the ladies started the tournament on a high note, winning their first game 3 - 0 against Yaros.

For his part, BDF VI coach, Isaiah Bannye, said despite the fact that their maiden game against Kutlwano was rescheduled due to darkness in the previous weekend, the team remained positive and focused on the following game.

Bannye said despite showing signs of sluggishness in their maiden match, a win had shown that the team was determined and would prolong its stay in the tournament.

“Our team did well in blocking and defence. We were struggling slightly in serving the ball, therefore we must improve in this department in order to be more destructive. We will work on our mistakes as we had just started the tournament. The team is hoping to move to the next stage of the tournament and therefore we must work hard as competition in the tournament was becoming intense,” said Bannye.

Kalavango started the match determined to register a win.

Despite going neck to neck with their opponents throughout the set, Kalavango succumbed to pressure from the opponents towards the end of the set.

At one-point, the team was leading 24-22 and in need of a point to snatch the set, only to allow BDF VI to snatch the set.

However, Kalavango continued with the positive momentum and ultimately claimed the second set to level the score.

Despite making efforts to up their game, Kalavango were faced with a fierce opponent who was equally determined to run away with a victory.

Eventually, Kalavango succumbed to constant pressure from BDF VI, thereby losing the third and fourth sets to settle the score.

In other preliminary women matches played on Saturday, the Ramotswa derby saw Spiking Stars defeating Dynamites 3-0.

Meanwhile, BDF VI defeated Yaros 3-1, while Kalavango saw off Prisons with a similar score line in the men’s sides respectively. ENDS