A last-minute goal by Sheila Shikuku secured a crucial 2-1 victory for the University of Eldoret (UoE) over Meru University in the women's handball, sealing their place in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Kenya Universities Sports Federation (KUSF) National Ball Games playoffs at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) on Friday.
UoE, who had suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Zetech University in their opening match, needed nothing short of victory to keep their qualification hopes alive — and they delivered under pressure, as head coach Josphat Pilishi explained.
“My young squad has been improving steadily since the Rift Conference and the Taita Taveta playoffs. After losing the opening match, this was a must-win game. Now that we are in the quarterfinals, we are ready for the next challenge,” said Pilishi.
He added that his side will now face the winners of Pool A, which includes JOOUST, JKUAT, Multimedia University (MMU), and Taita Taveta University (TTU).
In another match, defending champions Maasai Mara University were held to a 1-1 draw by DeKUT.
In the Rugby 15s classification matches, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT) will face the University of Nairobi (UoN) in the 5th-place playoff.
Hosts CUEA will take on UoE in the 3rd-place match, while Maseno University will clash with Moi University in the final to determine the gold medal winners.
In the men's netball results: Rongo beat Cooperative 17-14, Kenyatta University (KU) defeated Pwani 29-9, Meru edged JKUAT 13-10, JKUAT beat UoN 19-11, Meru overcame Kabarak 15-13, Egerton defeated Machakos 22-12, while UoE beat Meru 16-11 and Pwani 22-8. KU also beat Meru 22-10, Kisii thrashed AIU 32-2 but lost 17-12 to JKUAT. Tharaka beat KAFU 15-12 and UoN 13-8.
In women’s netball, UoE beat Chuka 24-13, KU defeated Chuka 31-9, TTU registered a 20-6 win over Africa International University (AIU), Meru beat Egerton 19-12, and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) defeated UoN 29-9. MMUST maintained an unbeaten run in both men’s and women’s categories.
In women’s volleyball, Cooperative University staged a remarkable comeback, recovering from two sets down to defeat Moi University 3-2 in a thrilling match that lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes (14-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-23, 15-9).
