Lakony not phased by Nkumba's form

As Nkumba women volleyball team's competitiveness in the National Volleyball League drops, head coach Tonny Lakony has nothing but kind words even for opponents who beat his team.

His team lost in straight sets to Vision Volleyball Camp (VVC) in their latest encounter at the Lugogo Arena last Wednesday; a reverse from the first round.

Lakony saw Nkumba go down 25-19 in the first set then 18-18 in the second set before they lost 27-25 and then 25-21 but the seasoned volleyball coach is keeping a positive outlook.

"Of course I want Nkumba to remain competitive in every event but I'm happy many of the players featuring prominently in the women's clubs are my products," Lakony said.

He said he was happy because players Irene Amoding, Hellen Namazzi, Jaqueline Aceng, Prossy Alobo and Sharon Pajije, to whom his team succumbed to, all went through his guidance at Nkumba University.

Indeed Nkumba has been one of the breeding grounds for many volleyball clubs in the league with players now turning out for VVC, Espoir, Sport-S, KAVC and Nemostars.

"I don't feel betrayed if the players leave Nkumba after they are fully developed but when they go prematurely and don't get what they promised at the new destination, we only feel disappointed," Lakony, who was technical director for Uganda Volleyball Federation said.

UVF president Hadija Namanda applauded both Lakony and Nkumba VC players saying that they have great future in volleyball.

"Nkumba is a great team. They have hard fighters. They have very competitive matches even against table leaders. That is what we expect of our volleyball teams," Namanda, who watched the team lose last Wednesday said.

Their men also clashed with the VVC and lost 3-2.

UVF called off a number of Serie A and women league fixtures that were scheduled for MUBS grounds because it was unavailable.