Malkia Strikers eye semis berth in Africa Nations Championship

National women’s volleyball head coach Paul Bitok has rallied her relatively new and inexperienced charges to fixate their eyes on progressing past the group stages and into the semifinals of the ongoing CAVB Women’s Africa Championship that is currently ongoing in the Rwandese capital of Kigali.

With a record nine titles to their name already, Malkia Strikers are seeking to qualify for the World Volleyball Championship by becoming one of the two sides that advance to the event courtesy of being the finalists as two slots are up for grabs.

After being outclassed by defending champions Cameroon in their opening Group B clash where they lost in straight sets on Sunday, Malkia Strikers redeemed themselves in their second match as they recorded an emphatic 3-0 thrashing against Democratic Republic of Congo, winning 25-11, 25-12, 25-19 at the Kigali Arena on Monday afternoon.

Resilient Malkia Strikers thrash hapless DR Congo in Africa Nations Championship

After that morale boosting first win and shaking off of cold feet at the tournament, Bitok has called on the girls to win their remaining matches in order to progress past the group stages and keep their dream alive of grabbing a record extending tenth crown.

“After losing the match against Cameroon, we need to win all our games if we are to make it to the semifinals of the competition. We want to keep our focus on taking one game at a time. Tomorrow we will face Burundi and we are going for nothing short of a win,” Bitok remarked.

In Kigali, Bitok has had to do without the services of experienced setter Jane Wacu as he welcomes a new crop of exciting youngsters onto the scene. That notwithstanding, the head coach has taken the setback as a blessing in disguise as he uses the competition to practically find the best team available for selection.

"This competition has given me the chance to field all players in order to get the first six. Remember, we have new players in the team who are being introduced to the first six, matches like the one against DR Congo really helped in planning forward. We will rectify some of the mistakes we made before we meet with Burundi and Tunisia in the remaining matches," Bitok added.

With one win after two games, Malkia are currently in second place on 3 points behind Cameroon who top Group B. They next take on Burundi on Tuesday before wrapping up group action against Tunisia.