APR men's Volleyball Club and Sport-S have secured the slot in the semifinals of the CAVB Zone V Club Championship after winning their second matches held on Thursday evening at BK Arena.
It took APR a decisive tiebreaker to record a 3-2 set victory over stubborn Rwanda Energy Group (REG) in a five-set thriller (25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 18-25 and 15-11).
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The army side took the first set 25-17 but REG responded quickly, claiming the second set went 25-22 to level the game. APR again took the lead after taking the third set 25-23 before REG easily took the fourth set 25-18 to force the game into a tibreaker.
The two sides looked sluggish throughout the four sets, with players from both teams making unnecessary errors. It was a balanced game at both ends but Sammy Mulinge had the egde on the duel as his men regrouped quicker to eventually win the fifth and decisive set 15-11 and claim the hardfought win, their second after another 3-0 set win over Amicale de Bujumbura on Wednesday.
With the two results, APR sailed through to the semifinal of the competition.
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Meanwhile, Police were made to pay for their errors as Ugandan side Sport-S came from two sets down to complete a 3-2 (25-22, 25-19, 17-25, 20-25 and 14-16) comeback which sent them to the semifinals as top of the table.
Sport-S beat Kepler 3-1 on Wednesday.
Despite losing their matches on Thursday, Police and REG still stand a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals should they perform well in their next games.
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The format of the tournament will see Police face Amicale while REG will face Kepler in two games that will decide who join APR and Sport-S in the last four on Friday.
In women category, RRA WVC lost 3-0 to Kenyan giants Pipeline WVC (20-25, 21-25 and 13-25) while APR women won their first game at the tournament, easing past Ugandan side KCCA in three straight sets (25-19, 25-20 and 25-13).
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The CAVB Zone V Club Championship is regarded as one of the second most prestigious volleyball event in East Africa attracting the best clubs across the region after national teams zone v championship.
The competition has been rebranded from defunct East and Central Africa Club Championships that was last held in 2007 in Nairobi.
The first edition was held in 2019 at the Petit Stade Gymnasium in Kigali. Gisagara at the time emerged victorious. They withdrew from this year’s edition as a result of massive player exodus.