Tuesday Playoffs semi-finals APR 1-3 Gisagara IPRC-South 2-3 Kirehe

Title hopefuls Gisagara Volleyball Club became the first team to book a place in the league playoffs final after defeating APR VC 3-1 in the second game of their semi-final tie played on Tuesday evening at Amahoro Indoor Stadium.

Newcomers Gisagara won the first match 3-1 last Sunday at Gisagara Gymnasium before completing a 2-0 whitewash in the best of three series.

On Tuesday, Eric Gakwaya’s team took the first set 21-25 but APR claimed the second set 25-22. While both sides fought so hard in the third set, it was Gisagara that came out on top 26-28 before closing out the match with a 20-25 in the fourth set. "We are delighted to reach the league final in the first season; this is a special moment for Gisagara volleyball club. We have played very well to this stage, but there is still more hard work to do in the final,” Gakwaya said after the match.

He added that, "We are going to prepare for the final in the best way we can because it won’t be easy but I believe, given the way we’ve played all season, we can win the title. It is our target.”

His counterpart, Sammy Mulinge, admitted that his players failed to manage the game well enough, losing crucial points.

"Overall, we played well but we failed to manage the game in crucial moments due to the inexperience of my players, but we will take the positives from these two games and plan for the future,” said the Kenyan trainer.

Gisagara will face the winner of their other semi-final between Kirehe and IPRC-South, who are tied at 1-1 after two games. Kirehe beat IPRC-South 3-2 on Tuesday in Huye to avenge for the first game by the same score. The third and decisive game will be played next week at Amahoro Indoor Stadium.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw