Finishing headache for Malkia Strikers ahead of World Championships

As Malkia Strikers play their final international friendly match ahead of the Women's World Championships, skipper Mercy Moim remains hopeful that the side will find a solution for their finishing power. 

The national women's volleyball team is in Belgrade, Serbia for their final camp, sponsored by Mozzart Bet, ahead of the global competition set for 23 September to 15 October in Netherlands.  

Malkia Strikers lose to Red Star in Serbia

During their penultimate match on Saturday 17 September, against Red Star Belgrade, the eleven-time African champions could not find their winning mojo, despite holding somewhat comfortable leads in the first two sets until the second technical timeout where everything would crumble. 

Coach Luizomar de Moura's charges led 14-12 in the first and 16-14 in the second sets but went on to lose 25-19 in both instances, leaving the Brazilian visibly frustrated as his game plan or the substitutions could not deliver the desired results, inspite of instances of individual brilliance on the court. 

"Our attack was really wanting against Red Star, despite an improvement in reception which has been a problem for a while. Our back court cover also needs some work but our biggest undoing was the inability to hold onto to our leads, which is a problem we have had for long not just now. 

Belgrade notebook: My first time in Europe and I am in love with the Serbian capital

We need to come up with a plan on how to handle our matches after the second technical timeout. We have to come up with a game plan on who will sacrifice themselves on reception and on attack as well as on defense so we can deliver these much-needed wins," offered Moim. 

Moim hopes that the path to redemption starts on Sunday in the final match against the Serbian national team B, that offers Moura's charges an opportunity to make amends in what will probably be their last build up match. The tactician is, however, hopeful of landing one more friendly in Netherlands. 

Team manager Roberto Opice Neto says that the Serbian friendly matches have been a great opportunity to expose the team to European volleyball and that will go a long way in helping the team achieve its set targets in Netherlands. 

"We will be facing players who are much like the ones we are playing with in Serbia and they are helping us make the final adjustments. The team is in the right path but there us room for improvement.  

Three months of preparations is obviously not enough to say we will be fighting for gold or anything close but it sets us up for competition in higher level and not just competing against African teams," offered Neto. 

Malkia Strikers are seeking to make history at the World Championships by reaching the second round for the first time. 

Kenya won her first match at this championship in 2018, a 3-0 result against Kazakhstan when the now assistant coach Japheth Munala was in charge