Pipeline secure bronze at CAVB Championships with win over Tunisia's Carthage
Kenya Pipeline ended their 2025 CAVB Women’s Club Championship campaign on a high, defeating CF Carthage in straight sets to secure a fourth consecutive podium finish in Abuja.
Kenya Pipeline wrapped up their 2025 CAVB Women’s Volleyball Club Championship campaign with a dominant straight-sets victory (28-26, 25-14, 25-18) over Tunisia’s CF Carthage to claim bronze in the 39th edition of the tournament held in Abuja, Nigeria.
The result ensured a fourth consecutive podium finish for the five-time African champions, who finished second in 2023 and third in both 2022 and 2024.
It was also the club’s 22nd all-time top-three finish at the continental championships - second only to Egypt’s Al Ahly, who have achieved 27 podium finishes and were set to feature in this year’s final.
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CF Carthage, who returned to the competition after missing last year’s edition, are no strangers to the latter stages of the tournament, having reached the semifinals in 10 of the last 11 editions. Their frequent deep runs have made them familiar foes for Pipeline, with the two sides meeting in three of the past four editions.
In their 2021 group stage encounter, Carthage won convincingly in straight sets (25-11, 25-16, 25-20), but Pipeline have since gained the upper hand. They edged out the Tunisians 3-2 in the 2022 third-place playoff (20-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11), and repeated the feat in the 2023 semifinals (25-18, 25-27, 23-25, 23-25, 9-15).
This year, however, Pipeline asserted their dominance more clearly - especially in the second and third sets.
The opening set was a tightly contested affair, with momentum swinging back and forth before Pipeline clinched it 28-26. From there, the Kenyan side took control. They raced to a 25-14 win in the second set and maintained the momentum to close out the match 25-18 in the third.
The bronze medal was a welcome consolation for Pipeline, who had narrowly missed out on a finals spot after falling 3-2 (23-25, 28-26, 19-25, 26-24, 12-15) to Egypt’s Zamalek in a thrilling semifinal. That defeat ended their hopes of ending a 20-year continental title drought.
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