Bullish Kenya face Peru in FIVB Grand Prix opener

The national women’s volleyball team will face Peru in the opening match of the FIVB World Grand Prix on Saturday morning in Veracruz, Mexico.

The newly crowned African Women Volleyball champions have been pooled in Group 3 alongside Kazakhstan, Peru, Algeria, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Australia, and coach David Lung’aho has exuded confidence ahead of ther opener in the tournament.

“Celebration time is over and we are focused on this competition which is of a higher level. The opponents are more sophisticated and we shall therefore have to give our best performances if we are to make it to the finals in August,” he told Nation Sport on phone from Mexico.

This is the second time the Malkia Strikers are featuring in the global tournament after making an underwhelming debut last year, and Lungaho travelled with the same squad that did duty in the African Nations Championships two weeks ago.

(READ: Kenya through to FIVB World Cup)

In their maiden appearance last year, Kenya secured wins against Mexico, Algeria and Australia, but they lost all their other group matches to finish in 25th position out of the 28 participating teams.

Algeria, who are the only other African representatives in the competition, have consistently appeared in the Grand Prix since 2013, and they lost their opening match against Kazakhstan in straight sets of 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-20) on Friday.

Lungaho says that being their second time in the event, the team has a better understanding of their opponents, and he believes they will post much better results this year.

(READ: Kenyan girls ready for the world)

“Last year was our first time here but we managed to snatch a few wins. This year we are more familiar with the opponents and have a better understanding, and I am sure we shall compete more favourably this year,” he said.

TOUGH MATCHES

The Grand Prix is an annual event that is currently on its 23rd edition, and it is considered the women's version of the World Volleyball League.

In their second match, Kenya will come up against Mexico in their second group match at 8pm on Saturday, before wrapping up their Pool O matches with a duel against debutants Colombia on Sunday.

They will then head to Algeria on June 30 for their next group challenge where they will come up against hosts Algeria, Mexico and Australia from July 1-5. If the team finishes among the top four teams after the two competitions, they will travel to Australia for the finals scheduled for July 10-12.