Prisons Kenya lost their first match of the season after going down 3-2 to Kenya Defence Forces during the third leg of the Kenya Volleyball Federation men's league at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday.
The wardens failed to contain the soldiers despite taking control of the second and third sets. The Elisha Aliwa-coached KDF pipped Prisons 25-23 in the opening set before losing the subsequent sets 25-15 and 25-17.
However, a tactical change from the KDF bench enabled them to roar back into the game by winning the fourth set 25-21 to tie the encounter at 2-2.
The soldiers demonstrated resilience as they steered clear to bag the decider 15-9.
Aliwa said: "It was a hard-fought win which could potentially change our season considering this is our first victory against Prisons for a long time."
"We badly needed a response from the team having lost to Equity on Saturday, a match we should have won easily were it not for the unforced errors we made. The win puts us in contention for a place in the playoffs."
He added: "We attacked Prisons relentlessly from all positions. They could not cope with our play."
His counterpart, David Lung'aho, congratulated their opponents but promised to work on their inadequacies.
"Thumbs up to KDF. They deserved to win because they were the better side," Lung'aho said.
"The loss has enabled us to identify the gaps that need to be plugged. Reception and blocking were our major undoing but we will go back to the drawing board."
In other matches, Kenya Ports Authority beat Nairobi Prisons in straight sets of 25-21, 25-13 and 25-10 to record their second consecutive victory after edging out Trail Blazers 3-2 on Saturday.
Blazers bounced back from their setback against KPA to thump Kenya Army 3-0. Coached by Geoffrey Omondi, Blazers gunned down the soldiers in sets of 25-23, 26-24 and 25-19.
Prisons Mombasa humbled Administration Police 3-1. AP took the first set 25-20 before succumbing to 25-22, 25-20 and 25-18. This is AP's third consecutive loss after falling to Prisons Nairobi on Saturday and Blazers on Friday.
