BDF VI men retained their Mascom Volleyball League title this past weekend with a game to spare. The champions will face Kutlwano in their final league game this weekend at the IHS grounds in Molepolole.
If they win against Kutlwano this weekend, they will end a second successive season without suffering a defeat. Selebatso Mabutho’s side have an unbeaten run, which stretches back to 2011 when they finished the season as runners up. BDF have already beaten Kutlwano in the first round of the league when the sides faced off earlier in the season.
Mabutho told Gazette Sport that he is delighted to have retained the league title. “We are elated. Our hard work has paid off. This season was very competitive and we had to be at our best at all times. No team had an easy ride; there were many teams challenging for top positions but we managed to maintain our form and win the league,” he said.
“We started to improve a lot more when we played our games in halls. The sun affects players and it would be ideal to play at indoor venues more often next season to avoid heat problems,” he suggested.
The army side also won the Capital Motors Independence Cup in September. The cup triumph has helped them qualify for the Zone 6 Club Championships that are billed to take place on December 16 in Swaziland.
Last year BDF VI finished in third place when the competition was held in Zambia; they were rewarded bronze medals for their efforts. If they win the regional tournament, they will qualify for the Africa Club Championships.
However, their participation is yet to be confirmed as they are waiting to see if the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) will avail funds for them to participate in the competition. “This year we want to go further in the competition, we want to challenge other top African sides,” said Mabutho.
In the women’s division, Kutlwano defended their title. They had been behind previous league leaders Mafolofolo by six points before this past weekend’s round of fixtures where they had three games in hand. They defeated Spiking Stars, Prisons and BDF VI to finish the league on 52 points.
Mafolofolo also accumulated the same points tally but Kutlwano won the league because they had only 7 sets dropped throughout the season while the former had 9 sets against them this season.