Mixed feelings for Sport-S volleyball family in Kumi

Sport-S ladies left Kumi with the Dr Aporu Okol International Tournament trophy after defeating KCCA 3-2 in a nail-biting final at the Boma grounds on Sunday.
Their male counterparts, however, were walked over by UCU Doves  to stop the family from doing a double.
UCU left Kumi with the men’s title but there was no final played. The side was handed the trophy after Sport-S refused to take to the court for the final.

The finalists were called to start the final at 6.20pm, something that didn’t make sense to Sport-S considering the game would certainly not be played to completion due to poor lighting.
The organisers decided Sport-S had “misbehaved” and called for a walkover to the Doves, who had defeated OBB 3-1 in the semifinal.
Sport-S had come from two sets down to beat Nemostars 3-2 in the quarterfinal before defeating guest side Juba 3-1.

Ladies shine
The Nsambya outfit had to dig deep in the final after taking the first set 25-23 and then slipping to lose the second 18-25 and third 21-25. 
With KCCA only a set away from victory, Sport-S relied on their superb defence to take the fourth set 25-19 and force a decider, which they took 15-11.
It was the kind of performance that left coach Marlic Damulira elated. The hard work finally paid off and the new signings clicked right away as the side overcame KCCA’s well assembled army.

Agnes Akanyo and Saidat Nnungi are the new signings for Sport-S and the two provided the much-needed middle block. KCCA’s Zainah Kagoya often penetrated the block but then Sport-S turned to their cover defence.
“We trained and prepared enough for this tournament. We tried to work on our weaknesses, especially the middle and that gave us the advantage, we’ve been losing narrowly because of those weaknesses,” Damulira told this publication. 

On the other end of the court was Shilla Omuriwe with a KCCA side that lost their 1-0 lead in the league semi-finals to fall 2-1 to Ndejje Elites and miss out on going to the finals.
Their new additions Joan Tushemereirwe and Super Natural did fairly well the two days of the tournament but lacked bite when the stakes rose.
Tushemereirwe looked to have run out of steam in the decisive set while Super Natural had her finger injured and could barely attack or block.

“It was a tough loss but one we can learn from,” a calm Omuriwe said.
Sport-S had overcome KCB-Nkumba 3-0 in the semis while KCCA eased past KAVC with the same score line.
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