2015 Women’s African Nations Championship- Day 3
Nairobi, Kenya, June 14, 2015- Senegal surprised the Kenyan crowd with a second in a row come back over the giants Tunisia this time 3-2 (14-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-12) in Day 3 of the 2015 Women’s African Nations Championship held at Kasarani Indoor Arena in Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday.
Now Dark horses Senegal led Pool B with a win- loss ratio of 2-0 and 4 points like Cameroon who took over Morocco 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-20).
Queens of comeback, Senegal came from two sets down to beat Tunisia 3-2 (14-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-13) in an entertaining group B match while Kenya took their group A point tally to six with an easy 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-19) win over arch rivals Algeria.
Botswana fought aggressively to overcome the struggling Mauritian team 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-15) to come second of Pool A ahead of Algeria with the set ratio.
Pool A
Kenya v Algeria 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-29)
Kenya coach David Lung’aho did not make any changes to his starting lineup from the one that beat Mauritius in their opening match last Friday, preferring Janet Wanja ahead of Jane Wacu in the setter’s place with Evelyn Makuto and Mercy Moim on the left while Lydia Maiyo started ahead of Esther Wangeci on the right.
Captain Praxcides Agala provided blocks from the center with Elizabeth Wanyama as a receiver and their well oiled efforts won the opening set 25-20 against Algeria who tried to catch up with their opponent late into the set to no avail.
Mercy Moim who plays for Liga Poloski in the Finnish league was on her best form, sending hard balls to the opposite court which helped a well oiled ‘MALKIA STRIKERS cage Algeria who denied them an Olympic slot in the 2012 qualifiers.
Algeria took the first lead of the second set 10-8 but an attack by Moim and a block by Jane Wacu helped Kenya narrow the gap to within one point before Ruth Jepng’etich sent back an over received ball to Algeria’scourt to tie the scores 14-14. Kenya regained the lead at the second technical Timeout (TTO) 16-15 before wrapping up the set with a 25-22. The third set was equally easy for the hosts who won 25-19 to book an early semi final place with a match against Botswana on Monday.
Botswana v Mauritius 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-15)
Botswana recovered from their 3-1 loss to Algeria in the opening match to beat Mauritius 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-15) in their second match.
Botswana who lost Daisy Golekanya Saturday to an ankle injury won the opening set 25-22 but Mauritius came back into the game in the second set having trailed west African 6-8 at the first technical time out but the Islanders took over the lead after the second technical time out to garner a slim win of 25-23.
Mauritius weaned out in the third and fourth set even with a much better receptions and services compared to their opponents who relied heavily on individual brilliance from left attacker Tracy Chaba to score points.
Chaba will however need to to improve her back court coverage and services in their next match against Kenya to fulfill her dream of steering her side to the semis.
“We want to play better and possibly meet Kenya in the final,” Chaba who plays for Kutlwano in Botswana said after their lose to Algeria in their opening match.
Botswana has been boosted by the inclusion of three players Molefha Karobo, ‘who had social problem in 2014), Gasekgonwe Gaolesetse and Chaba who was just recovering from an injury having missed the world championship qualifiers staged in Nairobi 2013.
Samuel Isaac who has scaled the leadership ladder at the helm of Botswana having joined in 2007 as a trainer before being promoted to the assistant coach position in 2010 praised his players for the hard fought win.
“That was a good match; Mauritius are good in defence but I like the character of my players. They fought very hard to win this match,” said Isaac who was confirmed as Botswana head coach in 2014.
Isaac who has tremendously transformed the team from a long-slow to a fast flowing short ball type of play added: “I will work on the psychological aspect of my players ahead of our match against Kenya which is a very tough opponent.
Pool B
Senegal v Tunisia 3-2 (14-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-12)
Senegal pulled a late comeback in the third set to beat Tunisia 3-2 (14-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-13) in group B to keep alive their chances of progressing to semis. This was Senegal’s second win having pulled another comeback in their 3-2 win over Cameroon in their first match Saturday.
“When we left Senegal our main aim was to be in the podium,” Senegalese coach Amadou Sene who is looking forward to a Kenya-Senegal final said after the match. Sene however heaped praise on his outside hitter turned receiver, Dacosta Binetou who arrived in Nairobi from USA a day before the games serves off.
“It was a bit hard for me moving from a hitter to a reciever but I’ve come to like it,” Dacosta, an Accounts student who turned 20 last month noted.
“I have full trust in her. She has good catch and that helped us a lot in the last three sets,” Sene who once coach Dicosta at club Sococim said of the player whose extra ordinary performance in the third and fourth sets helped Senegal overturn a two-nil lead to win the match 3-2.
Cameroon v Morocco 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-20)
In another match, Cameroon bounced back with a win over Morocco in anothet tightly contested group ‘B’ duel. Cameroon won their first match against Morocco 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-20) having lost the opener 2-3 to Senegal.
This was Morocco’s second lose which came barely 15 hours after they went down to Tunisia in their opening match Saturday
Match Schedule on Monday 15 June
Tunisia vs Cameroon (10am),
Morocco vs Senegal (12pm)
Algeria vs Mauritius (2pm)
Kenya vs Botswana (4pm)
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