2007 FIVB Volleyball World Cup:

Kenya lost their first match against Cuba

Hamamatsu, Japan, November 2, 2007 -- Cuba had little difficulty in racking up a win in their first match of the 2007 World Cup, overcoming the gallant Kenyans 25-11, 25-18, 25-20.
Cuba seemed slow getting any rhythm, as their coach had warned they might due to their lengthy journey to Japan, while Kenya showed their fighting spirit early on with two great spikes from Dorcas Ndasaba, but the Cubans were 8-4 ahead at the first technical timeout. Daimi Ramirez steered the Cubans to a wider lead with a combination of spikes and a clever dropshot and the Cubans extended the gap from 13-6 to 19-6.The Kenyans continued to defend with passion and, at times, with great reactions, but there was little they could do against the experience of the Cubans, who reached set point on a nice spike by Yumilka Ruis and took the set on a well-placed shot by Zoila Barros.

If Kenya were disheartened by losing the first set 25-11, they certainly didn't show it at the beginning of the second set, taking the game to the Cubans, who must have been surprised at the resilience of their opponents. Some sloppy play by the Cubans allowed Kenya to take an early 4-1 lead, but Ruis steadied the Cuban ship and brought the score level at 5-5. But the Kenyans showed plenty more spirit and stuck with the Cubans to 8-8. After that, Cuba put on a spurt and pulled away to 16-10 at the second technical timeout. The Cubans were helped by some errors from Kenya, but errors of their own allowed Kenya to keep the scores reasonably close, pulling to 24-18 before Yenisei Gonzalez finished things off with a resounding spike.

Kenya again found themselves on top at the beginning of the third set as Cuba's lack of coordination continued to plague the team, highlighted by a complete miss after a set at 4-4. A great block by Janet Wanja put Kenya up 6-4 and this was extended to 7-4 after a fantastic spike by Ndasaba. Cuba took a one-point lead at the first TTO and then found some consistency through Rosir Calderon that gave them some breathing space at 14-10. But the Kenyans dug in and pulled back to within two points at 17-15 and three points at 22-19. But there was no holding back the Cubans despite more valiant efforts from Kenya and Yanelis Santos finished things off with a spike.



Photo Caption

Ndasaba spiking as the lone Kenyan star against Cuba