After recording nine straight losses in the ongoing FIVB women’s World Cup, Malkia Strikers will be keen to save face when they tackle fellow Africans Cameroon tomorrow in their final match at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan.
Prior to the match against fellow Africans, Malkia Strikers face Russia today at 11 am after going down to Korea 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-21) yesterday morning.
Tomorrow's clash primed at 11 am is important for both teams, but Kenyans will be hoping to affirm their superiority having won against the Central Africans during the African Games last month in Rabat, Morocco.
The Kenyan girls need to win a match badly considering they remain bottom win-less in the 12-nation tournament.
On the other hand, however, Cameroon will be keen to assert their revenge on their opponent and at least record after snatching at least four sets against Argentina and the Dominican Republic.
Tomorrow's clash is definitely bound to have an impact on the FIVB ranking. Cameroon are currently placed at position 16 while Kenya are ranked in the 20 position.
Commenting on the Korea defeat, Kenya coach Paul Bitok said reception messed them up in the first and second sets but recovered in the third set although their effort was not good enough.
He said: "In the first two sets, it was difficult for us to play because our wing receivers failed to respond. We tried to correct it in the third set and it worked well for us as we were leading up to 20 points. we made the same mistake and allowed Korea to score straight points from 18 to 25,” he added.
He continued: “I hope we don’t repeat this in the next matches. Our aim is to win against Cameroon (in our final match) but I’m not thinking about that now as we have to focus on Russia tomorrow. We want to improve when we face big teams."
Team's captain Mercy Moim echoed Bitok sentiment saying: “In the first and second sets, we played badly and allowed Korea to use their strong weapons. In the third set, we started well but the finish wasn’t so good, so we lost the set. Tomorrow (today), we play Russia and will work on our reception and court defence because that’s a big problem now. Russia don’t play fast like Korea so we’re going to work on our blocks and reception and backcourt defence."
Sharon Chepchumba and Leonida Kasaya top-scored for Kenya with 10 and nine points respectively. Cameroon succumbed to Brazil 3-0 (11-25,17-25,18-25) yesterday and they will now line up against the United States of America today.
