Malkia Strikers bow out of World Championship

Malkia Strikers middle blocker Edith Wisa reacts during the match against the dominican republic

National women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers’ dreams of qualifying for the second round of the World Championship went up in smoke after a humiliating three straight sets defeat (25-5,25-7,25-15) to Dominican Republic in yesterday’s crunch Group D tie, at the Hamamatsu Arena.

The nine-time African champions made a dream start to the competition securing their first ever win in the global showpiece by thrashing Kazakhstan 3-0 before losing all their remaining four matches.

The three straight sets defeats in a row against group winners Serbia, Puerto Rico and Brazil, put the East Africans in a must-win situation ahead of yesterday’s encounter against Dominican.

This was Kenya’s worst performance in this year’s edition after failing to get more than ten points in the first two sets against the Caribbean outfit in a match that lasted for only 58 minutes.

Just like the previous matches, Kenya were undone by poor reception as they chased their shadows against a dominant Dominican. The victory saw the Dominican Republic progress to the next round of the competition.

Malkia Strikers coach Japheth Munala said: “We wanted to play well against the Dominican Republic. They destroyed our reception and were fast on counterattack. I wish the Dominican Republic success in the next round and hope they go all the way to the final.”

Despite the emphatic win, Marcos Kwiek had some encouraging words for the Kenyan team.

“We are happy with the result. Not just for the three points, but also for the form we showed today. We had focus and were aggressive. We have to concentrate on the next round now. I hope Kenya will be a better team with practice and experience,” said Kwiek.

Yonkaira Isabel scored 16 points, the highest in the match, four more than her teammates Lisvel Mejia and Brayelin Martinez, while Leonida Kasaya and Sharon Chepchumba picked up five points each for Malkia Strikers.

Dominican started off strongly taking a commanding 8-3 lead in the opening set, scoring quickly on attack with their powerful spikes troubling the Kenyan defence.

With the score at 11-5, the Dominicans ran off fourteen straight points to easily bag their first set 25-5. Dominican set a 6-0 lead in the second set before Chepchumba scored Kenya’s first point and stretch it beyong Kenyan reach.