Team Botswana was dominant at the World Volleyball Cup qualifiers in Maputo, Mozambique, as it topped Group J of Zone 6 in a bid to qualify for the prestigious 2014 FIVB World championship.
At the time of going to press, both men and women teams had won all their games in the sub zonal phase of the qualifier. In the male division on Wednesday, Team Botswana gave Swaziland a hiding, winning all the sets by 25 – 16; 25 ÔÇô 18; 25 -14 to make it 3-0.
Also against Swaziland on the same day, the ladies team, on the other hand, did not disappoint, winning 25 ÔÇô 14; 25 ÔÇô 10; 25 ÔÇô 11 to make it 3-0.
As if that was not enough, the Mountain Kingdom, Lesotho, also got a beating from this determined Botswana side. The men’s’ team walloped Lesotho 3-0, winning the sets, 25-21, 25-16 and 25-16.
The ladies team kept the Botswana flag aloft on the same day, thrashing Lesotho ladies 3-0, winning 25-10, 25-16 and 25.
As it stands, Botswana will be among the top three countries which will meet the other Zone 6 countries in another group, which comprises Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Zambia and Malawi.
The final two in the last stage will meet the rest of Africa in 2014 to qualify three-man team and two-woman team to the World Cup.
“The team has put on a spectacular performance in all the games they played and I am very happy….I congratulate the whole team, including the technical team,” said Head of Delegation from the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF), George Keotsene, speaking to The Sunday Standard from Mozambique on Friday evening. Keotsene said he has observed an improvement in the team in their second game against Lesotho. He said this trend in improvement of performance shows that the team is going places.
Keotsene said if the improvement in their game against Lesotho is anything to go by, then no team can stop Team Botswana.
Botswana played its last game yesterday against the host Mozambique and the results were not available by the time of going to press. Keotsene said the team stood a better chance of beating Mozambique who had home ground advantage.
