Kenya face uphill task in Kigali after Morocco loss

Kenya face uphill task in Kigali after Morocco loss

The Kenya men’s volleyball team Wafalme face an uphill task to qualify for the Africa Nations Volleyball Championships quarter finals after falling to Morocco 3-1 sets Thursday night at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda’s capital.

The defeat which followed a rare 3-2 win against Egypt on Wednesday in Wafalme’s opening match of pool ‘D’, complicated the Kenyans chances with their hopes now hanging by a thread after they were undone by determined North Africans in sets of 19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-21.

The Gideon Tarus’ side will have to beat Tanzania in straight sets or 3-1 on Friday at 12pm and hope Morocco, who have already qualified after two wins, defeat Egypt in the final preliminary match.

Wafalme’s assistant coach David Lungáho said they will be forced to gather all their energies in their final group fixture today to see off Tanzania, to revive their chances of making it to the last eight.

“It’s a do or die fixture against Tanzania but again it will depend if Morocco beats Egypt because if the latter wins we will be out regardless of our results against Tanzania. The boys really tried but we felt their full force of scintillating form,” he told Citizen Digital.

The Kenyans were magnificent in overcoming Egypt 3-2 and with the fixture serving a gripping five sets, Lunga’ho believes the team’s Wednesday workload against the Pharaohs was a mitigating factor in the 3-1 loss to Morocco despite claiming the first set in 25-19.

“We gave it all in the opening match and clearly the players looked tired after the first set against Morocco. There is a lot which needs to be done in training like we must focus more on strength and conditioning to keep the players fit. We fizzled out after the first set and it was clearly opponents were very strong.”

Egypt won against Tanzania in straight sets to sit second on the group with four points, two above Kenya and two below leaders Morocco.

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Morocco Wafalme Africa Nations Volleyball Championships.

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