Africa-Press – Botswana. Spiking Stars volleyball club women team’s gallant performance in the 2024 Confederation of Africa Volleyball (CAVB) Zone VI Senior Club Volleyball Championship has earned them a silver medal.
Despite the bravery and exceptional display, the team fell short of a performance that could earn them the championship bragging rights and a chance to represent the region on the continental stage.
The local club met a fierce fight from an equally determined side, UP-Maputo from Mozambique.
Spiking Stars lost 1-3 against UP-Maputo in a final match played on Saturday afternoon at Ditshupo hall in Gaborone.
Spiking Stars lost the first and won second set to level the match. However, their power drive was only shot-lived as the visitors finished the match by winning the third and fourth sets.
In the men’s final, the battle for supremacy was between the two clubs from Zimbabwe, University of Zimbabwe Wolves (UZ Wolves) and Highlanders. Despite coming from the same country, the brotherhood was put aside and the battle for supremacy was immense.
The UZ Wolves dominated the stage winning the first, second and fourth sets, to become 2024 Zone VI Senior Club Volleyball champions with a 3-1 score margin. Green Buffaloes club from Zambia, both men and women teams finished third. In the individual awards, Kelebogile Segatlhe of Mafolofolo walked away with the Best Service-Women award.
Luana Mário Monjane of UP-Maputo received the award for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the championship in the women category, while Sangonya Panashe of UZ Wolves was the men’s MVP. Monjane was also Best Setter-Women In a post-match interview, Spiking Stars coach, Lee Tshipana said the women had outperformed his expectation. Even though it was a competition, Tshipana said based on the fact that his team was still building, the focus was to get the much needed experience.
Tshipana said qualifying for the Zone VI Senior Club Volleyball Championships was on its own an achievement. Tshipana admitted that his teams performed exceptionally well, only to lose their composure in the final match. “They had put themselves under unnecessary pleasure. They were unnecessarily restless,” he said.Despite falling short of getting the ultimate price, Tshipana was overwhelmed by happiness and satisfaction with his team’s performance.
He said after joining Spiking Stars his focus was on building the team with the hope that it would be ready for such a stage as Zone VI and compete in the next five years.
Asked about his plan about the finals, Tshipana relentlessly said, “Honestly there was no game plan. The focus was to enjoy the championship and play good. We came into the final game with so many injuries. I am actually shocked that we managed to win a set. Even the players that were in the court played with injuries, but they pulled through. In the last set some of them were barely coping, their injuries had taken a toll on them,” he said.
Tshipana said his team had learnt that for one to perform well at such tournaments, they ought to relax, enjoy the games, have tactical discipline, give it their all, absorb the pressure and give the opponent no time to rest.
Coach Ángelo Loureno of UP-Maputo said his team managed to maintain its excellent performance by defending their last year’s title in Lesotho. Lourenco said the team had prepared a lot. Owing to the challenging political situation in Mozambique, Lourenco said it was never easy to prepare and bring a strong team to the competition.
However, he said the club did all in its power to prepare and bring a solid team to the championship and defend their title.
He said his team was aware that the final match would never be easy, but through determination, teamwork and focus, the team managed to reign supreme in the region.
Lourenco also added that the team had made it a point that all the players that were brought to the tournament got a chance to play, as such all the players were ready and available for the final match. Despite losing the second set, Lourenco said he was impressed by his team’s fighting spirit, which saw them win the third and fourth sets.
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