The Kenya women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers, suffered a 1-3 (17-25, 25-15, 15-25, 14-25) loss to Poland at the 4000-seater Saphan Hin Stadium in Phuket, Thailand. Despite the setback, the team showed improvement from their opening match against Germany, where they lost 0-3.
With this loss, Kenya is out of contention for the FIVB World Championships. However, they will face Vietnam, who are also winless, in a dead rubber match on Wednesday. Germany and Poland, who have already qualified for the second round, will face off on Wednesday to determine who tops the pool.
Kenya coach Geoffrey Omondi expressed disappointment with the result, saying, “Bagging a set from the third-ranked country is indeed something, but I would have wanted a better result. I really wanted to win the fourth set and force a fifth set, and who knows, we would have won the match, but unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.”
Omondi added, “At least we have tomorrow to rest and recover ahead of the Vietnam match on Wednesday.” Kenya will aim to redeem themselves against Vietnam, despite the match having no bearing on their qualification chances.
