KVF to name Malkia Strikers squad for Olympic qualifiers

A 21-woman squad will be announced by head coach Paul Bitok alongside Brazilian coach Luizomar de Moura and team manager Roberto “Beto” Opice Neto after the Kenya Volleyball Federation National League action at Nyayo.

“We’ve many young players who impressed us in Tunisia and we will include some of them in the provisional squad. We want to introduce them and prepare them for the big assignments ahead of us. We will give a chance to all those who will be selected before we name the final squad for the France and Cameroon trips,” Bitok told Citizen Digital.

Setter Esther Mutinda and left attacker Juliana Namutira from KCB and Kenya Pipeline’s middle blocker Trizah Atuka, left attacker Leonida Kasaya and Libero Aggripina Kundu are likely to feature in the provisional squad after impressing at the African Club Championship in Tunisia.

Atuka has been out of the national team since 2019 when she suffered a career-threatening knee injury which saw her stay out of the sport close to one year, but her return has been fruitful with league’s title and 2023 African Clubs Championships runners up-finish her instant success.

She was also awarded the best middle blocker award in Tunisia.

Mutinda last featured for the national team during the 2021 Africa Nations Cup in Kigali, Rwanda.

The squad will be trimmed down to 16 before they fly to train in Morocco for two weeks and then depart for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Challenger Cup set for June 25-31 in France.

From there, the team will pitch camp in Anoraks, France courtesy of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya before they head to Cameroon for the Cup of Nations set for August 18-30 in Yaoundé.