Bitok still chasing Malkia Strikers maiden win at Olympics

Bitok still chasing Malkia Strikers maiden win at Olympics

The national women’s volleyball team head coach Paul Bitok says naivety and inexperience is derailing Malkia Strikers’ game plan at the ongoing Tokyo Olympic Games.

Malkia Strikers have lost their first two group matches in straight sets-against hosts Japan and South Korea-but in both matches they ran their opponents close in the final sets.

He says the players lacked the edge to claim at least a set in the two matches despite matching their opponents toe to toe falling in sets of 25-15, 25-11 and 25-23 to Japan on Sunday, and 25-14, 25-22 and 26-24 against South Koreans on Tuesday.

“One minute we we’re making some phenomenal saves, some great blocks, really good net play especially in the third set. And then immediately we kind of got caught off balance, got beat defensively, scrambling to run things offensively, getting taken out of system by our opponents.

“Lack of international friendly matches is now hurting my players, we didn’t gain the best experience before we faced these world-beaters teams. Actually, my players are trying a lot against our tough opponents,” Bitok told Citizen Digital.

Bitok, however, hailed the team’s resilience saying the girls will pick many positives from Tokyo adding he was proud of what they had achieved.

“This Olympics is a launching pad for this team ahead of great success in the coming years if the scores we’re getting are anything to go by. In the previous outings, the team was not even going past ten point mark in a set but now we’re pushing to the end. Kenyans need to trust the process,” he added.

The nine-time African champions return to Ariake Arena Thursday against 2016 silver medallists and reigning world champions Serbia in their third preliminary fixture, and Bitok believes their dream to win a match at the Games is not far-fetched.

“We’ve three matches remaining and so we will continue to push to win a set and then push further to claim our first ever Olympic win.”

A clash against the Dominican Republic follows at 3.00am on Saturday July 31.They will wind up their preliminary round fixtures against Brazil at 3.45pm on Monday 2nd of August.

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Malkia Strikers Paul Bitok Olympics 2020

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