Kenya's Junior Malkia Strikers earn sweet revenge to claim historic continental title

The Kenya women’s Under 20 volleyball team—the Junior Malkia Strikers—wrote history on Monday, 11 August, after striking gold at the Women’s U20 African Nations Volleyball Championship in Yaounde, Cameroon.

The side, expertly led by coach Jackline Barasa, swept aside hosts Cameroon 3-1 (26-24, 19-25, 28-26, 25-16) at the Palais des Sports Complex to win their maiden African title.

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The Kenyan side took the first set before allowing Cameroon to strike back.

The third set was a tighter affair as Kenya edged out 28-26 winners and looked set for victory in the final set, having taken 13-5 and 14-10 leads.

The win added to the team’s gloss of qualifying for the 2026 World Under-20 Championships set for Surabaya, Indonesia.

The final victory also carried a sweet sense of revenge for the Kenyan girls, who had earlier lost to the hosts six days earlier in the group stages.

That 3-0 set loss was the only blot on the Junior Malkia Strikers' paper, as they won all their other matches all the way to claiming the top prize.

Kenya, marshalled by the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), Terry Mallin Tata, opened their campaign with a 3-0 set win over Senegal on Monday, 4 August, before overcoming the Cameroon blip to ease past neighbors Uganda, Egypt, and Burundi.

The four wins placed Kenya second at the end of the group stages played in a round-robin format, booking their place in the last four, where they beat Egypt again to make the final.

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In the other semifinal, Cameroon beat Senegal 3-0, setting up a much-awaited rematch that they will now come to rue, despite also booking their place in next year’s World Championships.

Egypt won bronze in Tuesday’s earlier match, beating Senegal 3-1.