Brave Junior Wafalme Stars see off Algeria to cruise into African Nations semis

The Luke Makuto-led side had a shaky start, crumbling to the North Africans 25-21 in the first set before bouncing back to win the second set and the third sets 25-22 and 25-17 respectively.

The fourth set saw Junior Wafalme Stars dig deep to reign supreme 26-24 as the Algerians forced an extra play, hoping to edge Kenya and force a decider set, a mission that was crushed.

Assistant head coach Gideon Njine was delighted with the win, labelling the tie "one for the ages."

“The match was tough but I’m happy the boys fought well and won. Algeria is equally a good side and they gave us a good show,” Njine told Citizen Digital.

Bethwel Kiplagat, Most Valuable Player during the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSSA) school games produced a man of the match performance and has so far won Kenya 102 points including 89 attacks.

The Cheptil Secondary school attacker was in awe after bagging the MVP and helping Junior Wafalme Stars cruise to the semis.

“I’m happy for today’s match, it was tough but we managed. We are confident going into tomorrow’s match and we are ready to give our best.”

Kenya will now clash with hosts Egypt tomorrow in a block-busting semi-final clash, with a final place granting them a ticket to the 2028 World Championships.

This was supposed to be the ticket for the 2026 World Championships which was scrapped off by the world volleyball governing body FIVB to ease congestion of competitions.