Nemostars want to win league title for departed Old Coach

Nemostars have won the last four league titles and will be going for five in five when the National Volleyball League finals starts this afternoon at Old Kampala Arena.

The unique thing about these finals series – best of three – is the fact that the six-time champions will be playing in the finals for the first time since the demise of club founder Neko Moduse Ojala.

Old Coach, as he was fondly referred to, passed on June last year and this left a big hole in the hearts of everyone associated with the Nemostars franchise.

Winning the title for him is a must.

“It means a lot for us because it is our first league finals since the passing of our Old coach,” Captain George Aporu told Score ahead of the series opener.

“We want to win it for him and we will do everything,” he added.

Nemostars lost the first final played after Old Coach’s demise. They fell 3-1 to Sport-S in the rescheduled National Clubs Championship final.

The loss, coupled with the timing of the league, saw Andrew Okapis and his charges confirm they would be missing out on playing continental volleyball this year.

The finals present the opportunity to bounce back and take some silverware home.

Good to go

Nemostars lost just one game in the regular season and that was to their finals opponents, OBB. That will not matter now, though. The regular season records are out of the way and all focus is now on the title.

“Our expectations are that the final will be mouthwatering, pound for pound and that the volleys will be flying like never before this season,” Okapis said.

“We have worked really hard to get to this point and therefore we cannot just allow to go down. We shall have an edge over them because we have been at this stage severally and that should give us some advantage.”

OBB’s win over Nemostars in the regular season was no fluke. And that will give them the confidence going into the finals.

Nemostars expect no pleasantries at this level and they appreciate the challenge posed by their opponents.

“OBB are a good side and looked very good in their semifinal display. In our last meeting [second round of the regular season], we won but this will not by any chance be a measure of what we expect. Playoffs is a different ball game altogether and we shall give our opponent the respect they deserve being in the final.”

OBB ok with underdog tag

OBB will start the finals as the underdog and they are okay with the tag. Coach Ivan Ongom is the biggest threat for Nemostars. He believes OBB can swing the odds into their favour despite being debutants.

“We believe we can challenge anyone. We are obviously the underdogs here. We are the challengers and ready to fight,” Ongom  told Score.

VVC dare Ndejje

Vision Volleyball Camp lifted the league title in 2014 by defeating Ndejje Elites 3-1 in the best of five series. The two sides have changed over the years but Ndejje still have players from the 2014 season to rely on for experience. Christine Alupo and Belinda Jepkirui are still on court for Ronald Kitosi’s troops. The two sides lock horns again, with a title on offer. The two sides rose above the rest in the regular season and promise an evenly contested series.

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