Kenya Pipeline were on Thursday made to dig deep to secure 5th place at the 2021 Women's Club African Championship.
The six-time African champions showed class to beat home team CO Kelibia 3-1 (25-22, 15-25, 26-24, 25-21) to secure position 5.
Pipeline coach Paul Gitau used all but one of his 13 available players as the Kenyans faced the youngest team in the tournament
Gitau kept faith in his youngsters with Rose Magoi and Gaudencia Makokha being the only senior players involved.
The first set was a close fight with the home side taking an early 8-5 lead then stretching it to 16-9. Coach Paul Gitau however made tactical changes bringing in Esther Mutinda for Rose Magoi and this played the trick as they went on to win the first set 25-22.
They would however struggle in the second set this time round they couldn't make a remarkable comeback and they lost 15-25. The third set was even a closer contest as the Kenyans squeezed through the set points to win 26-24. The renewed confidence enabled them win the fourth to secure a 5th place finish.
Earlier, AS Douanes of Burkina Faso had to wade off a late surge from Wolaita Sodo University of Ethiopia to seal position 7. The Ethiopians, who lost 3-1, finished the tournament ranked 8th.
Match Day 7 results (all matches at Aissa Ben Nasr Hall)
Classification matches
Position 7-8
AS Douanes (Burkina Faso) vs Wolaita Sodo University (Ethiopia) 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 30-28)
Position 5-6
Pipeline (Kenya) vs CO Kelibia (Tunisia) 3-1 (25-22, 15-25, 26-24, 25-21)
Day 8 program
3pm
Position 3-4: Prisons (Kenya) vs Customs (Nigeria)
10pm
Final: CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) vs CF Carthage (Tunisia)