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Malkia Strikers draw with Mexico in friendly as Challenger Cup nears
Part of the action between Kenya and Mexico in their international friendly match at Espace Mayenne, in Naval, France on July 26, 2023. The two teams are preparing for the FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup which serves off on July 27.
What you need to know:
- Kenya, who are making a maiden appearance in the event, arrived in France Tuesday night in time for the tournament that serves off from Friday to Sunday.
- Two matches are on cards on Thursday, France play host to Vietnam before Ukraine face Croatia.
Malkia Strikers assistant coach Paul Bitok has said the team has a lot of ground to cover in terms of reception as they prepare to play Colombia on Friday in the FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup at Espace Mayenne, in Naval, France.
Kenya, who are making a maiden appearance in the event, arrived in France Tuesday night in time for the tournament that serves off from Friday to Sunday.
Two matches are on cards on Thursday, France play host to Vietnam before Ukraine face Croatia.
Challenger Cup is an annual international tournament contested by eight national teams that acts as a qualifier for the FIVB Volleyball National League (VNL).
Kenya will be keen to bag points at the event that will be crucial in the Road to Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Bitok observed that reception was a major issue after the team played to a 2-2 ( 20-25, 14- 25, 25-11, 25-14) against Mexico in an international friendly match Wednesday morning in Laval.
"The team played well in most departments and we just need to improve on our reception. We had strong attacks today, we hope to the have the same momentum in the tournament. We are ready for the competition," said Bitok.
"Mexico had strong services, good back court defence and quick attacks and strong defence. It's a team to look out for in the competition," he added.
Kenya have been in a FIVB High Performance Training in Rabat, Morocco for the last three weeks under the Brazilian head coach Luizomar De Moura before they left for France on Tuesday evening.
The technical bench gave starts to team's captain Mercy Moim and Veronica Adhiambo, middle blockers Edith Wisa and Belinda Barasa, opposite Sharon Chepchumba and libero Aggripina Kundu.
The friendly match also saw the FIVB new rules applied where two timeouts were separated during the sets where teams are required to call their first timeout before 12 scores or lose it. The other timeout can only be utilised after 12 points.
Teams are now allowed to change sides only in the third set and maintain sides in the fourth and fifth sets or until end of the match unlike before where at end of every set, teams would change sides.
