Kenya captain Moim: Why we lost to Red Star Belgrade

In Belgrade, Serbia

Malkia Strikers skipper Mercy Moim insists Kenya have to get their finishing right to make history at the FIVB World Championships that serves off on Friday in the Netherlands.

Kenya will be looking to break the ceiling at the World Championships set for September 23 to October 15 by qualifying for the second round for the first time in seven appearances.

Poor finishing has been a recurring theme in Kenya’s build up matches in Brazil where they had pitched residential training camp to prepare for the global competition. The two-month high performance training camp in Brazil was courtesy of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment Programme.

And on Saturday night, poor finishing once again came to the fore as Kenya twice gave away healthy leads during key moments before losing 3-0 (19-25, 19-25, 17-25) to Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade at Kovilovo Sports Centre.

“It’s always tricky playing against a team that you haven’t watched playing or analysed because you don’t know what to expect. However, today our reception was good but we struggled in back court defence and attack,” noted Moim, Kenya’s most experienced player.  

“Another big concern is our finishing. We have been playing well even in the friendly matches in Brazil but we crack when it matters most. It’s something that we need to solve by identifying the players who can handle pressure during such moments and score crucial points,” she added.

Head coach Luizomar de Moura chose to bask on the positives, notably a massive improvement in reception and a good start to the first and second sets.

“We leave this match very proud of the girls because today they showed they can play well against the top teams in Europe. There is a lot to work on but we are certainly on the right track,” noted Luizomar.

It was put to him that the litany of errors in crucial moments against Red Star was evidence that Malkia Strikers are still work in progress. The Brazilian coach conceded that it will take more time to build an outfit that can challenge the best teams in the world.

“Three months of preparation is not enough to become a gold medal team but we can see there is good progress. The friendly matches will help us to make final adjustments but what we want to achieve is to make this team ready for any opponent. It will take time because we don’t want to be at the African level any more but at the highest level playing any team in the world,” underlined Luizomar.

Kenya return to the courts on Sunday to take on Serbia B (Under-23) team at Kovilovo in their last friendly match in Serbia before travelling to Netherlands on Tuesday for the World Championships.

Malkia Strikers are in Serbia for the final leg of preparations courtesy of their sponsors Mozzart Bet.