The U-18 boy’s and U-20 women’s volleyball teams, jetted back for Tunisia though they failed to qualify for the World Championships.
The teams jetted in the country in two batches, with first batch arriving in the country on Saturday night, while the second batch arrived in the country Sunday morning.
The boys’ team finished fourth behind Algeria, Egypt and winners Tunisia in the just concluded African Nations Volleyball championships in Tunisia.
The top three teams in each gender qualified for the World championship.
The U-18 outfit under the guidance of former Kenyan International Sila Makiso lost to Algeria 3-0(25-22,25-19,25-23) in the third-place play-offs on Friday while the women’s team also failed to impress against Algeria 3-1(20-25,25-22,25-15,25-15) in the semi-finals.
The teams were received by Kenya Volleyball Federation Deputy President Paul Bitok and Committee Member Nedy Nelimo. Bitok lauded the players for their performance despite failing to qualify for the World Championships.
“This was a noticeable effort from the youngsters and we hope to build on this team going forward. It has been long since we fielded a team in the underage events and it’s a milestone for us. A lot of positive experience and exposure to pick from the championships. ” Said Bitok.
Tunisia came from a set down to beat Egypt 3-2 (23-25,25-18,25-16,21-25 and 15-12) in the boy’s finals, while Tunisia held their nerve to beat Egypt with the same set ratio in the U-20 women’s final.
Meanwhile, Kenya, Egypt and Cameroon will represent Africa during the 2025 Volleyball Women’s World Championship
The tournament will take place in Thailand on August 22 to September 7.
Previously, the event has been held after every four years but starting 2025, the event will be held biennially, the last edition was co-hosted by Poland and Netherlands where Kenya and Cameroon represented the African Continent.
The East Africans finished 19th in the 24- Nations tournament while Serbia defended their title.
