The stage is set for the Liquid Open volleyball championship finals at the Molepolole IHS hall courts tomorrow. Police VI men and women sides will be in the hunt to claim the title in both sections. The men’s side face Kutlwano while their female counterparts have to go past Mafolofolo.

As things stand, there is nothing much that can stop the Police teams from grabbing the two titles. During the transfer window, Police women’s team signed quality players. However, Mafolofolo cannot be undermined as they have beefed up their attack by signing back Chada Majaha from Police.

Police women’s coach, Thatayaone ‘Shimaka’ Ngwanaotsile is confident that his charges are ready to emerge from Molepolole with the trophy and gold medals.

He said preparations are going well although some of their key players are out injured and as such are taking precautions at all times at training.

“It is my second final coaching the women’s team. I have been learning to work with women and I am coping though it was not an easy journey for me. What I can say is that we are playing the final game with Mafolofolo,” he said.

Police beat Mafolofolo 3-0 during the group stages and Ngwanaotsile is aware of his opponents’ strength.

“We worked on the mistakes that we committed in the previous match against Mafolofolo. We know it is not going to be an easy game,” Ngwanaotsile said.

Mafolofolo coach, Boitumelo Botsang said they are ready for Police. He said when they lost to Police, they had not prepared properly for the encounter.

“It was a slow start for us because my players had trained for a week ahead of the tournament. I could not turn on the tactics since I was worried about their fitness level. Tomorrow we intend to stop Police,” he said.

Botsang said Majaha returned, Mafolofolo lost some players during the off-season, some have aged and two others have travelled to the AUSC Region 5 Games.

In the men’s final ‘Ditau’ will go toe-to-toe with ‘Big House’. Pride will be at stake as the two sides fight for supremacy in local volleyball.

Kutlwano coach, Opelo ‘Dopp’ Popo said Police would not intimidate them.

“I want my players to be free and enjoy the game. The response from the players has been positive during training. The important instructions will be for them to stay focused on the game and fight from the first ball to the last one,” he said.

Popo said there is a need to minimise service errors, commit to blocking and court defence.

Police coach, Peaceful Seleka said there is nothing great like being in the final. He said he aims to help the team to be competitive even on the international stage.

“We prepared well because we never took a break from the Return to Play tournament but rather we had a break and worked on the physical preparation of the team. We just started training when it was announced that there was a tournament,” he said.

Seleka said he is not expecting an easy victory because Kutlwano are a tough customer.

Meanwhile, Mag Stimela will battle it out against BDF VI in the men’s playoff while Kutlwano take on BDF in the corresponding women’s fixture.