Siwa upbeat as Malkia face Brazils Samba dance

The national volleyball team has date with destiny when they take on Brazil this afternoon in a Pool D match in Japan at the FIVB World Championship.

The Japheth Munala coached Malkia Strikers are under immense pressure to win against the Brazilians if they are to reignite their hopes of making it to the knockout stages of the competition.

Malkia begun their quest on a promising note after clobbering Kazakhstan by straight sets only  to capitulate against Serbia and Puerto Rico and will have to conjure a magic out of the Samba girls to keep alive their hopes that now hang by the thread.

However, ahead of today’s clash, team manager David Kilundo is upbeat that they can still achieve her second round target.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, Kilundo said:  “We must win one of the two matches and we are prepared. So far so good and our dream to reach second round is not shelved.”

After battling the Samba Girls, Kenya will take on Dominican Republic on Thursday at 10:10am (Kenyan time) in their last preliminary match.

Kilundo words were echoed by Malkia’s middle blocker and debutant Christine Siwa who says despite losing against Puerto and Serbia the set ratio against the two was not wide and this should act as a good motivation ahead of the two final crucial matches.

“For sure we have improved a lot and slowly we are closing the gap against world beaters like Serbia and this should send a good message to our fans. Bring on Brazil and Dominican,” dared Siwa who also plays for Kenya Volleyball Federation side, Kenya Pipeline.

Meanwhile, Kilundo attributed their Monday’s loss against Serbia to fearful typhoon which hit the host nation on Sunday night.

The latter said most of the players were affected by the storm which claimed two lives leaving hundreds homeless in the Far East country.

“Somehow our players were affected by the storm because they were experiencing it for the first time. We did not sleep prior to the match fearing for our lives,” he said.

The three-week championship which has attracted 24 teams will serve out in October 20.

Tags:

Brazil Japheth Munala Malkia Striker Samba David Kilundo FIVB Championship Japna Pool 'D'

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