Chinese team rout Kenyan side at World Club Volleyball tourney

By Oscar Pilipili in Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland:  It was same script with only the rival team being different as Kenya Prisons lost their opening match of the FIVB Women’s World Club Championships here in Switzerland.

Asian club champions Guangdong Evergrande, from China, had little difficulty in outclassing the African queens 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-13) in their first match of the tournament.

The towering and imposing Chinese team stars, all playing for their respective national teams, were perfect in blocks, attacks, reception and back court defence.

Prisons net players Everline Makuto, Esther Mwombe, and Mercy Moim were dwarfed the Chinese by far, and it became impossible for them to attack and block their opponents from landing their strikes at will on their side of the court.

Evergrande is a professional team, which has some of the tallest players in the tournament.

Yunli Xu and Ting Zhu both stands at 1.95 metres tall and the team has three other players who measure over 1.90 metres in height. Prisons’ tallest player on court was Mercy Moim at 1.83 metres, Mwombe is even shorter at 1.61metres.

Played well

Prisons coach David Lungaho said: “I think we didn’t play at our best level, but all the same, I’m happy how my team performed against a very strong opponent.”

“Evergrande is one of the best teams in the world, and I was really happy to see what my girls did, especially the outside attackers,” he added.

“Everything was very tactical and suddenly, the Asians changed their style of playing completely. So I’m also willing to learn, especially from coaches like Lang Ping.”

Prisons captain Diana Khisa conceded they lost to a very strong side but expressed satisfaction over the performance of the team.

“Chinese teams play a very fast game and they (Evergrande) caught us unawares,” she said.

Khisa urged teammates to maintain team work and fighting spirit when they play hosts Volero Zurich in their last Pool ‘B’ match today.

Team outclassed

Khisa concurred that Prisons were outclassed in every aspect of the game by the Chinese. Prisons could not deal with the speed, power and precision that the Evergrande stars displayed.

Evergrande set the pace with their sharp serves and consistent offense game.

Evergrande jumped out for a 16-9 lead in the middle of the first set.

However, Lang Ping’s players experienced more difficulties than expected in stopping the powerful Kenyan hitters at the start of the match.

This is because Moim and Makuto repeatedly found gaps in Evergrande’s defence line.

US-national team player Megan Hodge secured her squad a 25-14 set win with two remarkable hammers through Prisons defence.

The best outside hitter from the 2013 FIVB World Grand Prix, Zhu Ting, led her team to an undisputed 25-11 second set win.

The match was clear indication that there was still a huge gap between Africa and the rest of the world and the continent still has a long way to go to bridge the difference.

Kenya Volleyball Federation chairman Waithaka Kioni said: “Results of the first match were disappointing, nevertheless we should post better results in subsequent matches. Let us remain focused.”               

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