Paris 2024: Malkia Strikers not giving up on their dream

Kenya's Esther Mutinda (second left) and Edith Wisah block Brazil's Menezes De Souza. [AFP]

Malkia Strikers are not giving up in trying to secure their first set win at the Olympic Games.

The national women’s volleyball team face a daunting task against top-ranked Poland in their second Group B match of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at the South Paris Arena on Wednesday at 9pm.

Unlike Kenya, who returned to the Games in Tokyo 2020 after a 16-year absence and failed to sparkle, Poland have returned to the event in style as favourites since featuring at Beijing 2008.

The record African champions, who are ranked 20th globally, are yet to secure a single set in their Olympics history.

The fourth-placed European side came from behind to see off Japan 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-23, 28-26) in their opening match on Sunday as Malkia Strikers fell 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-12) to giants Brazil on Monday.

With eight players making their debut at the Games, head coach Japheth Munala still believes the team has what it takes to cause problems for Poland.

“The Brazil match is now behind us, and our focus is on Poland. We are going to sit down as the technical bench and look at how Poland played in their previous in the VNL as well as Sunday’s match, then train on what we have seen in the videos and counter them,” said Munala.

“We had some unforced errors against Brazil that we must rectify ahead of our second match. We must also work on reaction on the court. Of course, Poland is one of the strongest teams as per this championship, but we don’t feel any pressure."

“If we can receive well like we did against Brazil then make our net and back defence work, there is a possibility of getting a set in the remaining two matches,” he added.

Kenya assistant captain Edith Wisa feels they have been encouraged by their performance against Brazil ahead of tonight’s encounter.

“We picked some positive lessons in our first match, and we are looking forward to having an impressive outing against Poland. We have improved so much on our reception; we just need to work on our attack and defence,” said Wisa.

Pamela Adhiambo and Esther Mutinda, who are among the new faces in the team, are out to prove their critics wrong.

“From the performance we had against Brazil, we have high hopes of doing better against Poland and Japan. Definitely, there will be negativity coming around that loss against Brazil, but as players, we know the positives to pick from that match," said Adhiambo, who was Kenya’s top scorer with seven points against Brazil.