National women’s volleyball team is wary of hosts Egypt and Cameroon as the African Nation Cup gets underway today in Cairo, Egypt.
Cameroon beat Kenya in the final to win the title at their backyard while Egypt bagged the bronze medal.
Sensational setter Jane Wacu admitted that Cameroon will be a hard nut to crack if their preparation prior to the event is anything to by. She said Egypt will equally be a handful considering they will be playing before the home crowd.
Wacu, currently attached to Anse Royal away in Seychelles, said the fact that Cameroon, who boast of professional players who feature in the France League gives them an edge.
“Cameroon have had good preparations including playing International build-up matches and in a way, they have an edge over us. However, we are going to do our best and we hope to recapture the title that we lost them,” observed Wacu who plays for the Kenya Prisons locally.
She added: “Every other team will be going for the trophy but it will boil down to who wants it the most and we hope at the end of the tournament, we will be the overall winner.”
Middle blocker Triza Atuka echoed Wacu's sentiments but added that there is a lot to play for. “The weather conditions here are extremely hot at 37 degrees centigrades. Thank God we arrived days before the event served off and we have acclimatised. We will try as much as possible not to be complacent,” said Atuka who doubles up as the Kenya Pipeline captain.
She said teams have improved and even the likes of Senegal cannot be taken for granted. "It will not be business as usual but we will put our best foot forward and hopefully results will come our way,” he noted.
Unlike in the previous editions where the event has been a qualifier for the World Championship, this time around, teams will be using it to improve on their FIVB ranking. The draws were expected to be conducted last evening.
The team arrived in the host nation last Friday and has been conducting daily training sessions under FIVB attached coach Shailen Ramdoo, assistant coach Japheth Munala, second assistant coach Josp Barasa and KVF technical director David Lung'aho.
