Malkia Striker’s Ruth Chepng’etich spikes the ball past Algeria in their match on September 1. PHOTO/Courtesy.
JAPAN, September 1 – African champions, Kenya finally won at the FIVB Women’s World Cup after thrashing Algeria in straight sets in an all-African affair on Tuesday.
The Malkia Strikers raced to a 25-14, 25-11 and 25-11 victory in a repeat of the African Championship final in June to snap their six-match losing streak at the global showpiece.
Attacker Mercy Moim, received the Most Impressive Player award after having 14 kills, three aces and one block to lead the scoring charts with 18 points as Ruth Jepng’etich added 13.
The win saw the record nine-time continental champions climb off the bottom to 10th three points ahead of Peru and Algeria.
“Congratulations to Algeria. They have a young team and are doing well. I want to encourage them because they are playing at a high level.
“For us, it was important to win. We’ve lost the last six matches and winning the first in the World Cup is a big plus and it will give us motivation as we proceed.
“We know we still have a chance of winning a few more and that’s our primary goal,” head coach, David Lung’aho stated after the victory.
“Today was good for us because it was the first time we have won in this World Cup, so we’re happy. I want to congratulate Algeria. They are a young team and trying hard so I want to say good luck to them and keep on fighting,” his captain, Brackcides Agala added.
Tied at 11-all in the third set, Kenya ran off 14 points in a row to wrap up the match with four games left to wrap up their campaign.
Lung’aho charges out-blocked Algeria 14-4 and out-served them 9-2 as they dominated the attacks with 36 spikes against 15.
The tournament takes a break until Friday when Kenya takes on Korea.
