Poland has ended Kenya Malkia Strikers’ the national women volleyball team journey at the FIVB World Championships in Thailand.
The Geoffrey Omondi coached side lost to the powerhouse 1-3 (17-25, 25-15,15-25,14-25) loss to Poland in a match played at the Saphan Hin Stadium in Phuket, Thailand.
The winners came from a set down before losing the subsequent three straight sets to record their second loss at the championships after going down 3-0 to Germany in pool G opening fixture.
Kenya had on Saturday fallen 3-0 at the hands of Germany in their opening Pool “G” encounter.
Kenya and Vietnam, who are winless in the competition, will face off in a dead rubber match on Wednesday.
Germany and Poland, who have already qualified for the second round, having won two of their pool matches, will face off on Wednesday to determine who tops the pool.
Omondi said that he was not satisfied with Monday’s result, saying they now have no choice but to win the remaining match.
“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. At least we have tomorrow to rest and recover ahead of the Vietnam match on Wednesday,” said Omondi.
“Vietnam plays a fast game, and so we need to be at our best should we want to win against them. There has been great improvement from the team, individual brilliance, teamwork, and coordination, and so we just need to extend the same in our next match. We lost to Vietnam during the International friendlies, but we look forward to returning the favour,” he added.
Poland coach Stefano Lavarini acknowledged that Kenya gave them a run for their money.
“Just as I had mentioned in the earlier interviews that Kenya was not pushover, and that’s exactly what we experienced today. We struggled all through, but I’m glad we were able to contain them and win the match. They are a physical side that can pull a surprise,” said Lavarini.