Moi University will be using home advantage to claim volleyball title when they host the 7th edition of Kenya Universities Sports Association (KUSA) national championships that kick off on Monday 16th to 22nd December in various venues.
The biennial event brings together Universities and University Colleges affiliated to KUSA for a week of sporting extravaganza with this year’s event themed “Nurturing Innovative Leadership Through Sports” where 17 sports disciplines namely, athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, darts, handball, hockey, karate, netball, rugby 7s, scrabble, soccer, swimming, table tennis, tae kwon do, tennis and volleyball will be competed upon.
Volleyball captain Duke Byron said they are well prepared for the championships and as champions, they want to win the title they lost last year.
“We have a task to carry the name of the institution high as well as maintaining the name of various players as they seek to play for top clubs across the country after they leave the university,” said Byron.
Playing without a coach the team is determined to return to East Africa championships after losing last year to Kampala University at the quarterfinals staged in Tanzania.
“Our aim is to play good volleyball and carry the national flag to East Africa and come home with a medal to better our last year results,” added Byron.
The Kusa Rift Champions have played three friendly matches to improve on their skills. At Kusa rift played at their backyard, the champions won against Egerton on the table after weather destroyed the final play. Making it hard to determine the winner hence the winner was determined through a consensus and the hosts carried the day.
On-road to finals, they defeated Kabrak University at the semifinals 3-1 (25-21, 25-15 18-25 and 25-23) after edging out Masai Mara University by similar margin at the quarterfinals.
“As the hosts, we want to display our best skills to win the trophy. Because we don’t have a coach, we play for passion, the name of the school and hard work. Through that, we have propelled our skills to the top in the country,” said the 4th year student of Bachelor of Graphics and Communication student