Rayon Sports close in on volleyball league title

Rayon Sports 3-1 Kirehe INATEK 3-1 APR Rayon Sports 3-0 APR INATEK 3-1 Kirehe APR 3-1 Kirehe Rayon Sports 3-2 INATEK Rayon Sports volleyball club is edging closer to the volleyball league title after winning three playoffs games on Sunday at Kimisagara Youth Center. The Blues beat Kirehe 3-1 (25-18, 25-11, 19-25, 25-19) in the opening match before thrashing archrivals APR 3-0 (25-18, 29-27, 25-23). Fellow title contenders INATEK beat defending champions APR 3-1 (25-18, 23- 25, 25-15, 25-19) before defeating Kirehe 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-19 and 25-17). Following these results, INATEK trailed Rayon Sports by three points and their game would give the winner an advantage. INATEK dominated the first set against Rayon Sports 25-16 with strong services and spikes by setter Thierry Mugabo, right attacker Ocean Byabagamba and left attackers Patrick Kavalo and skipper Olivier Ntagengwa. However, Fidele Nyirimana’s side fought back to win back-to-back sets 25-22 and 25-22 after changing their system and brought on Bienvenue Biyenzi to the center while he deployed Pierre Marshal Kwizera as a left attacker as he went on to produce many points. INATEK however won the fourth set 25-20 which forced the game to go to a decisive set that Rayon Sports won 15-11 in the match that took two hours and six minutes. These three wins ensured a top spot on the table standings for Rayon Sports who have 52 points, followed by INATEK with 48 points while the defending champions APR sit in third position with 38 points. Kirehe is in fourth position with 25 points. The playoffs will continue on September 26 when INATEK host the event in Ngoma District while this weekend’s games were hosted by APR in Kigali. APR were without their key players including Bonny Mutabazi who left for France to further his studies while Flavien Ndamukunda was unavailable. Rayon Sports played without Fred Musoni who joined a team in the Finland first division while Nelson Murangwa is nursing a left arm injury. In the other matches, APR beat Kirehe 3-1 (25-14, 25-22, 22-25, 25-18). The Playoffs were halted in July so that the national team could participate in the Men’s African Nations Championship in Cairo that was won by Egypt. Rwanda finished sixth and was fourth at the just concluded All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.