2008 Women’s junior African Nations Championship

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Egypt wins the second title in a raw Nairobi, Kenya, September 13, 2008- Egypt continued their superior performance and won their last match against Seychelles to achieve their second title in a raw in the 2008 Women’s Junior African Nations championship. Egypt finished the competition in a clean sheet of win loss ratio of 4-0 in the 5 nations round robin competition held at Moi International Sports Centre of Kasarani in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Friday. The defending champions Egypt kept the crown home after they won the 2006 edition in their homelands. The fifth and final day of the competition showed also Tunisia beating Kenya for the second position and the organizers lost the chance to qualify to the World championship as Tunis finished second to secure the second position of the competition leaving Kenya for bronze.

Day 4 Egypt set third victory over Tunisia in early final Nairobi, Kenya, September 12, 2008- Egypt set their third victory in a raw over Tunisia in an early final of the 2008 Women’s African Nations Championship her at Moi international sports center of Kasarani in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday. The competition fourth day showed also Kenya second victory over Senegal.   Egypt 3 Tunisia 1 The battle for the slot to represent Africa in the Junior World volleyball championship in intensified with bigwigs Egypt locking horns with Tunisia. Spurred by their 100 percent record in the competition, Tunisia started the match stronger as they restricted the defending champions to do the chasing and claimed a 8-3 lead at the first technical time out. Left attacker Fatma Gtari and Sonia Ben Youssef were instrumental in landing the scores for the Tunisia side as they coordinated well with setter Faten Habachi. Efforts by Egypt coach Badrawy Hesham to slow down the game did little to stop the Tunisia as they rushed to a 16-10 lead. However, improved performance by Hussein Yasmin, Emam Menatalla and Elbitar Dina were enough to step on the brakes for the Tunisia as Egypt clawed back into contention. However a time out by Tunisia coach Rached Chebbi was enough to break the Egyptian surge and they went on to claim the first set 25-23.

Day 3 Egypt and Tunisia continued clean sheet Nairobi, Kenya, September 11, 2008- It was cold outside the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday, but Tunisia were red hot in their 3-1 victory over Seychelles in the third day of African Junior Women Volleyball Championship. Egypt continued their winning rhythm and achieved their second victory over Senegal to stay in a good position to defend the title they achieved 2 years ago. Tunisia vs. Seychelles 3-1 According to form, Tunisia should have been on top from the off, but in the opening exchanges; they failed to dominate the opposition and allowed Seychelles to stay with them at the first technical timeout, 8-7. But it didn’t stay that way for long. Blocks by Agrebi Rahma and Sassi Nadia Paula put Tunisia ahead by two and a big spike by Rahma extended it to three points. Fatma and Habachi Faten also showed their strength and Nadia added two spikes to help the Tunisians to a 16-7 lead at the second technical timeout. The Seychelles also made errors. Cedras Samura was unable to handle a serve by Ben Youssef Sonia at 23-12 and a long serve by Fatma handed Tunisia the first set. In the second set, Seychelles tried to stay with the pace.

Day 2 Egypt surprised the organizers and Seychelles achieved first victory Nairobi, Kenya, September 10, 2008- Poor reception and lack of blocks by Kenya cost them the match against Egypt in the second day of the 2008 Women’s Junior African Nations Championship here at at Kasarani Hall in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday. Egypt vs. Kenya 3-1 The defending champions, Egypt were in top form as they overcame the local girls 25-19, 27-29, 25-22 and 25-20. Kenya’s head coach, Paul Bitok lamented over their laxity in these vital departments, in a match he thought his side deserved to win. “In that match, we had very bad reception. I don’t know what is going on because if it carries on like this we will perform badly. But that was a very closely contested match and I believe that we are still firmly on the chase,” he said. Kenya struggled to get their game together while their opponents looked the better organized of the two teams as Abd Nahla led them to an 8-6 lead at the first technical timeout. Slowly, the local girls clawed back the points as their defending improved and some of their spikes started to find their mark. In truth, many of the points were coming from errors as both sides struggled to find their best form.

Day 1 Tunisia and Kenya achieves perfect start Nairobi, Kenya, September 9, 2008- It was test worth nail biting as Kenya sustained persistent pressure from their rivals Seychelles before securing a 3-0 win (25-20, 25-15, 25-23) as the Africa junior women volleyball championship started at the Moi international Sports centre, Kasarani. Tunisia set their first victory in straight sets in a delayed match due late release of the Senegalese team from the airport. Kenya vs. Seychelles 3-1 Rusty Kenyans struggled to settle into the game as they allowed Seychelles to come from behind and tie at 6-6. Seychelles captain Bonne Marielle engineered the crush of Kenyan blocks as she scored point after point. However ,Kenya captain Evelyn Makuto leadership skills as she guided Kenya to a 7-6 lead at the first technical time out.

5 teams compete for a World Championship Vacancy Nairobi, Kenya, September 7, 2008- The Africa junior women volleyball championship has attracted five top countries after South Africa and Mauritius pulled out as the defending champions Egypt as well as the organizers Kenya, Tunisia, Seychelles and Senegal will compete for the African slot in the 2009 Women’s Junior World Championship. The round robin championship starts on Monday and ends on Friday 12 September. With the two countries out, Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) technical director Howyda Mondy said the competition will be played on a round robin format. That leaves five countries parading their best talent to battle for the exclusive ticket to represent Africa in the world championship in Mexico City next July The withdrawal of the two teams means that the tournament will be played on a round robin format with Kenya having to test their skills against all the four opponents. The winner will them clinch the ticket to Central America.

Kenya to host the competition qualifying to the World Championship Cairo, Egypt, July 31, 2008- he African Volleyball Confederation CAVB has entrusted Kenya Volleyball Federation to organize the 12th Women’s Junior African Nations Championship 6- 15 September 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya The players born on 1st January 1990 or after are eligible to participate in this competition and the 2009 FIVB Junior Women Under 20 World Championship, if qualified. According to the FIVB decision concerning the registration or participation in the FIVB World Competitions, the national teams are not allowed to register or participate in the FIVB Competitions unless they participate in the African Competitions in the same category. Highly experienced in organizing African volleyball competitions, Kenya wants to complete their usual success with a victory in these age category competitions after they won the last two editions of senior competitions. The defending champions of the last competition Egypt will be also a great competitors with Kenya, Algeria and Morocco.

By Christoph Musumba- Kenya Volleyball Federation Press Officer