It took the Kenya women’s national volleyball team two Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) Grand Prix Pool Three appearances for them to gain promotion to Pool Two.
On June 3, they will volley off their FIVB Grand Prix Group Two campaign against hosts Argentina in Tucumán with an aim of avoiding the drop back to Pool Three according to head coach David Lung’aho.
We want to make a mark, we failed to qualify for the Olympics but now time to move on and focus on what is ahead
But to achieve that, Lung’aho and company will have to overcome a number of challenges, a couple of those being the cold weather and the language barrier.
Assistant captain Monica Biama while talking to Kenyan online publication michezoafrika when the team had just landed in Buenos Aires in Argentina last Tuesday morning to a freezing 10-degree temperatures;
It is very cold here and we are forced to stay indoors under air conditioning units. The good thing is we came here earlier and we are adopting well to the low temperatures thanks to the Argentina Volleyball Federation and FIVB
Argentina is a predominantly Spanish speaking country while Kenya is mainly an English speaking country something that has barred the smooth flow of communication between the hosts and their guest.
We have to communicate in sign language and this makes it very difficult for us to understand each other. But this has also challenged us to start learning basic Spanish words
Said Agrippina Kundu the team’s Libero, before Kenya lost a trial game to their opening hosts as they went down 4-1 4-1 (25-17, 25-18, 25-23, 23-25) in a warmup game last Thursday.
The two sides will play a return leg test friendly match on Monday before heading back to Tucuman for the start of the Grand Prix.
Apart from Argentina, Kenya will also face Bulgaria and Dominican Republic while Poland and Puerto Rico are the other teams they will face in the other leg of the competition at Hala Mistrzów, Włocławek, Poland.
Kenya won the FIVB Group Three last year to qualify for the second tier of the championship.
FIVB World Olympic qualifiers Fixtures
21st May
Kenya vs Colombia
22nd May
Kenya vs Algeria
23rd May
Kenya vs Puerto Rico
FIVB Group Three Grand Prix first leg Fixtures
June 4th in Tucuman Argentina
Kenya vs Argentina
Dominican Republic vs Bulgaria
June 5th in Tucuman Argentina
Kenya vs Bulgaria
Dominican Republic vs Argentina
June 5th in Tucuman Argentina
Dominican Republic vs Kenya
Argentina vs Bulgaria
June 10th in Poland
Kenya vs Puerto Rico
Poland vs Argentina
June 11th in Poland
Kenya vs Poland
Argentina vs Puerto Rico
June 12th in Poland
Kenya vs Argentina
Poland vs Puerto Rico
Selected team for the Olympic qualifiers and FIVB Grand Prix: Mercy Moim (Captain), Jane Wacu , Janet Wanja , Evelyne Makuto ,Edith Wisa, Violet Makuto , Brackcides Khadambi, Noel Murambii, Trizah Atuka , Esther Wangeci , Agrippina Kundu, Monica Biama.
Traveling Officials
Martin Kimondo – Team Manager
David Lung’aho – Head Coach
Japheth Munala – Assistant Coach
Charles Maina – Team Doctor
Dennis Machio – Team Journalist
