Co-operative Bank men’s volleyball team duo of Martin Kiptoo and Faustine Barasa have switched allegiance to Nairobi Water ahead of the next Friday’s Kenya Volleyball Federation national league at Kamkunji grounds, Nyeri.
However, the two—Kiptoo (right attacker) and Barasa (libero)—will not debut for their new employers after the Water men shelved their matches citing various reasons.
Nairobi Water coach John Mwaniki confirmed the players are currently training with team ahead of the season.
The tactician said the right position has been their main undoing for the last one season and believes Kiptoo will make all the difference .“They are good players with experience and we are happy to have their services. It’s unfortunate we wont participate in the first leg but we are equally preparing well ahead of the second leg set for Ndakaini,” he said.
The water men were the surprise package during the last season’s play-offs at Makande hall in Mombasa and the tactician is aware their opponents will come hard on them this time round.
With Nairobi water making the cut for the play-offs, Kenya Defence Forces missed out on the event for the first time in a decade with regulars and champions Kenya Prisons, General Service Unit and Kenya Ports Authority being the other participants.
“At the beginning of last season, we agreed with the team to fight from the front and that’s what we did. We led the league standing for the better part of the season before GSU and Prisons overtook us but all the same we made the cut,” he added.
He continued: “The script is the same again this season. We are aware the league will be competitive and our opponents will be out to dislodge us from the play-offs but we have our work well cut out. If anything, the experience we got during the play-off was amazing and although we finished fourth, we are ready to go all the way and win the title.”