27 Nov 2023

 A highly charged encounter, showing signs of deep-rooted rivalry, has ended with Kutlwano volleyball club lifting the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) Golden Cup after beating Police VI in a deciding set of the men’s finals held at the Institute of Health Sciences (IHS) hall in Molepolole on Saturday.

The neck-to-neck encounter followed a humiliating 3-0 defeat of their women’s side by Police VI in the finals earlier.

Kutlwano, alias Big House, came out guns blazing not only to redeem their pride but to also prove their mettle as one of the volleyball titans. They claimed the first two sets while Police VI seemed to have lost the steam and struggled to cope with the pace of the game.

While it seemed it was over for them and close to a humiliating 3-0 defeat, the Lions of Police VI regained their strength and their roar pierced through the IHS hall, much to the amusement of the volleyball followers that had it packed as they won the next three sets as well as the fourth, to send the match to the fifth deciding set.

Their dream to lift the Golden Cup was however short lived as the determined Kutlwano men also regained momentum and strength and ultimately won the deciding set 18-16. In a post-match interview, Police VI coach, Peaceful Seleka said things did not go according to plan right from the beginning, since they were forced to change tactics and depart from what they had been focusing on at training.

He said that resulted in them taking time to adjust to the new approach and losing the first two sets. He added that his side could have won the game in the deciding set given that at some point they were three points at 14-11 ahead of Kutlwano.

“Players got too excited and got carried away. Unfortunately their decision making was affected and we ultimately lost the game.

At the end of the day it was a good game in the sense that it showed our mental strength. Coming from a 2-0 down, on a normal day, one would have given up ending up losing the game 3-0,” Seleka said.

He regretted that they missed two of its key players in Jack Boifang and George Chiswaniso and therefore forced to play the experienced Happy Ribbin outside his usual position of a natural centre, hence his play on the day was few and far between.

However, he said Ribbin did well and played all the five sets and also applauded players for their bravery and fighting to the end.

He said the tournament had helped them to prepare for the coming Zone VI club championships to be held in Namibia next month. He said last year, the team finished in the quarter finals of the Zone VI but the plan was to win the competition this time around.

“It is fortunate that Kutlwano are also going to Zone VI and we might meet at any stage of the competition and take it from where we left off. My wish is for us to meet again. It is not about either Police or Kutlwano winning but demonstrating the beauty of the game,” he said.

He said as a sport development person, his vision was to see levels of volleyball grow.

“What we have demonstrated today, though we have been on a break for a long time was that we are catching up and taking the game to its highest possible level of display,” he said. For his part, Kutlwano coach, Shadrack Modiakgotla said he was happy with his team’s performance and the ultimate win of a somewhat tough match.

“We came into the match knowing well that we will face an equally good team with good setters. We were fortunate to have one of our longest serving players, Tjiyapo Madeluka performing at his best and controlling the game from the start,” he said.

He said winning the first two sets was an advantage but when their opponent won the third sets, it was then that they realised that the deciding set was conceivable and therefore had to focus, owing to the tactics and discipline they had been working hard on. On the preparations for Zone VI, Modiakgotla said the good display of technique and hunger to win was a sign that they were ready for the regional games. ENDS