The Kenya women's national volleyball team, the ''Malkia Strikers'', represents

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

in international

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

competitions. Kenya has dominated the African continent since the 1990s, winning the

Women's African Volleyball Championship The African Women's Volleyball Championship is a sport competition for national teams, currently held biannually and organized by the African Volleyball Confederation, the Africa volleyball federation. Summary Medal summary Participating nat ...

a record nine times. They have qualified three times for the Olympics; in 2000, 2004 and for the postponed

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo. Kenya also has a

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

team, who were the only women's team at the Tokyo Olympics. Kenya's women's sitting volleyball team did not qualify for Tokyo.

History

Women were not invited to play volleyball at the All-Africa Games until 1978. Those games were in

Algiers, Algeria Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

and Kenya did not send a team. The team was there in 1991 for the

Volleyball at the 1991 All-Africa Games Volleyball at the 1991 All-Africa Games was held in Cairo, Egypt Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in A ...

where they were first. They were also in Cairo when eight teams were present for the

1991 Women's African Volleyball Championship The 1991 Women's African Volleyball Championship was the Fifth Edition African continental volleyball Championship for women in Africa and it was held in Cairo, Egypt, with Eight teams participated. Thesports.or The Championship honours listRetriev ...

and Kenya again took the gold medal. Violet Barasa, as national team captain, lead the national team to its appearances at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. At both events they finished eleventh. In 2006 the team's coach was the Japanese coach

Sadatoshi Sugawara is a Japanese former volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a p ...

who was assisted by

Paul Bitok Paul Bitok (born 26 June 1970 in Kilibwoni, Nandi) is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who won two silver medals at consecutive Summer Olympics (1992, 1996) over 5000 metres. Life Bitok emerged in 1992 as a relatively unknown athlete. He qualif ...

. They contested the FIVB World Championships in Japan although the team was said to lack professional players as the chosen team were students or players who were based in Japan. In 2007 their coach Sammy Kirongo led them to a seventh

victory. That year's championships was in Nairobi and the final was against Algeria. The Kenyan team included

Brackcides Agala Brackcides Agala Khadambi (born 14 May 1984) is a Kenyan female volleyball player. She was captain of the Kenya women's national volleyball team and she competed in beach volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Life She was born in 1984. She ha ...

Janet Wanja Janet Wanja (born 24 February 1984 in Nairobi) is a volleyball player from Kenya, who competed for her native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, wearing the number #7 jersey. There she ended up in eleventh place with the Ken ...

Dorcas Ndasaba Dorcas Nakhumicha Ndasaba (born 31 March 1971) is a former Kenyan volleyball player. She was part of the Kenya women's national volleyball team. Life She participated in the 1998 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship, and in the 2002 FIVB ...

and Catherine Wanjiru. Mildred Odwako was said to be the "best digger" and Janet Wanja was the "best setter". Dorcas Ndasaba was judged "best player" after she gained the final point to deliver victory in straight sets. In 2008 they failed to qualify for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

after they were beaten by Algeria and four years later Algeria again denied them qualification for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. In 2015

was the captain of the team and

assisted her. The team announced that they refused to play for the

2015 FIVB World Grand Prix The 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix was the 23rd edition of the annual women's international volleyball tournament played by 28 countries from 26 June to 2 August 2015. This was the first time that the Group 1 final round was held in Omaha, ...

in Canberra after several victories. The players were annoyed that they had not been paid money that had been promised by the Kenya Volleyball Federation. The boycott was successful and the team played and won against Peru. However, the KVF were not pleased and when the team's were announced for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

neither Khadambi or her assistant

were asked to the qualifying matches and the team failed to qualify. In 2020, under the new head coach of

, Kenya's women's volleyball team won the gold medal at the African Games and they qualified for the postponed

which was the first time in sixteen years.

2020 Olympics

Kenya women's volleyball team qualified for the postponed

by winning the pool round with three match points and securing an outright berth at the African Olympic Qualification Tournament in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, marking the nation's return to the Olympics for the first time since Athens 2004. The chosen players names were revealed on 26 June 2021. The Olympic team included the veteran

Mercy Moim Mercy Moim (born ) is a Kenyan volleyball player. She played with the Kenya national team in the 2010 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship. She was team captain for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (the only women's volleyball te ...

as captain and Jane Wacu also made the team, but former players

Violet Makuto Violet Makuto (born ) is a Kenyan volleyball player. She has been part of the Kenya women's national volleyball team. She participated in the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix. On club level she played for Kenya Pipeline Company in 2014. ...

and

Elizabeth Wanyama Elizabeth Wanyama (born 27 May 1987) is a Kenyan volleyball player. She is part of the Kenya women's national volleyball team. She participated at the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship, and at the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women's World ...

were not included. Kenya's "Most Valued Player"

was included in the beach volleyball team. The team received additional coaching from six Brazilian coaches who visited Kenya and the team was then sent to Nairobi where they received additional coaching from the Brazilian coach . The other teams in their group in Tokyo are the home team

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. The team set off from Kenya for the Olympics in Tokyo in three batches to try and minimise the chances of being affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The team's captain

was chosen to be one of Kenya's flagbearers at the Olympics opening ceremony (Moim was the second woman to be given this honour following archer Shazad Anwar in 2016). Their opening match was on 25 July in Tokyo against

. Surprisingly Paul Bitok was not on the match's touchline, but Brazilian coach was announced as the head coach. He spoke to the press via the team manager. The team lost their first match against Japan in straight sets.

2020 Olympic squad

Squad as announced in June 2021. *1 Jane Wacu *4

Leonida Kasaya Leonida Kasaya (born ) is a Kenyan volleyball player. She is part of the Kenya women's national volleyball team. She participated in the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix, 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship, 2020 Summer Olymp ...

*5 Sharon Chepchumba *8 Joy Lusenaka *10 Noel Murambi *12 Gladys Ekaru *13 Lorine Chebet *14

*15 Pamela Jepkirui *16 Agripina Kundu *18 Emmaculate Chemtai *19 Edith Mukuvilani

Results

Olympic Games

* 1964 to 1996 — did not participate * 2000 — 11th place * 2004 — 11th place * 2008 — did not qualify * 2012 — did not qualify * 2016 — did not qualify *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

— 12th place

World Championship

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

— 13th place * 1998 — 13th place * 2002 — 21st place *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

— 21st place * 2010 — 21st place * 2014 — did not participate * 2018 — 20th place *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

— 19th place

World Cup

* 2019 — 11th place

FIVB World Grand Prix

Women's African Volleyball Championship

* 1991 — 1st place * 1993 — 1st place * 1995 — 1st place * 1997 — 1st place * 2003 — 2nd place * 2005 — 1st place * 2007 — 1st place * 2011 — 1st place *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

— 1st place * 2015 — 1st place * 2017 — 2nd place * 2019 — 2nd place *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

— 2nd place

All-Africa Games

2021 Beach volleyball Olympic team

Kenya also has a women's national beach volleyball team. The team that gained Kenya qualification for the postponed

was

Yvonne Wavinya Yvonne Wavinga (born 1996) is a Kenyan volleyball player who plays for ''Kenya Prisons''. She has played for Kenya's U23's and helped qualify Kenya women's national volleyball team for the beach volleyball tournament at the postponed 2020 Summer ...

Phosca Kasisi Phosca Nekesa Kasisi (born 1993) is a Kenyan female volleyball player who plays for ''Kenya Commercial Bank''. She is in the Kenya women's national volleyball team as captain of the beach volleyball team at the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in To ...

and

Gaudencia Makokha Gaudencia Makokha (born 15 November 1992) is a Kenyan female volleyball player. She was part of the Kenya women's national volleyball team playing beach volleyball at the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. Life She was born in 1992 and her birthplac ...

. They qualified when they won at the

African Continental Cup Finals African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

in Morocco in 2021. They gained victory in a final against the

Nigeria women's national volleyball team The Nigeria women's national volleyball team represents Nigeria in international women's volleyball competitions and friendly matches. Nigeria lastly qualified for the 2021 Women's African Nations Volleyball Championship where the team reached ...

. Wavinga and Kasisi beat

Tochukwu Nnoruga Nwankwo Tochukwu (born 27 April 1986 in Port Harcourt) is a Nigerian football player currently with the Ventura County Fusion. Career Tochukwu Nwankwo is a creative midfielder who grew up in Jos, Nigeria. Some of his peers during his youth car ...

and

Albertina Francis Albertina Francis (born 15 July 1995) is a Nigerian volleyball player who plays in the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps Team and the Nigeria women's national volleyball team. Achievements Albertina plays in Beach volleyball "b" team for ...

2-0 while Agala and Makokha beat the other Nigerian pair of Francisca Ikhiede and Amara Uchechukwu 2–1. Kenya's beach volleyballers were in the four Continental Cup winners with Argentina, Cuba and China. Kenya has never had a beach volleyball team at the Olympics and they are only the fourth African country to send a team. The four players who qualified will make up Kenya's Olympic beach volleyball team chosen by the coach Sammy Mulinge. They will compete initially with the teams from

, the US and Latvia in pool D at the postponed

in Tokyo. The volleyballers stayed in Mombasa for training before flying to Tokyo. They were the African champions, but the pandemic meant that many of their future opponents had been able to play more matches.

2021 Sitting Volleyball Paralympic team

Kenya's sitting volleyball team failed to qualify in the round robin contests in Kigali in September 2019. Rwanda won the place putting Egypt into second place in the final.

Previous squads

* 1991 World Cup squad ** Doris Wefwafwa ** Nancy Lijodi ** Anne Wekhomba ** Lena Serem ** Pamela Mukima ** Jane Njeri-Onyango ** Nancy Sikobe ** Lucy Kamweru ** Beatrice Kwoba ** Dorcas Murunga ** Catherine Mabwi ** Mary Ayuma * 1994 World Championship squad ** Rhoda Vwosi ** Nancy Sikobe ** Helen Elele ** Jane Mwai ** Esther Birgen ** Esther Barno ** Esther Ouna ** Doris Wefwafwa ** Truphosa Lai ** Mary Ayuma ** Purity Ogolla ** Jacqueline Makokha ** Dorcas Murunga ** Nancy Lijodi ** Joan Mwandihi ** Pettie Antargu ** Anne Wekhomba ** Susan Kahure * 1998 World Championship squad ** Margaret Indakala ** Catherine Mabwi ** Edna Chepngeno ** Doris Wefwafwa ** Helen Elele **

** Roselidah Obunaga ** Jacqueline Makokha ** Esther Barno ** Mary Ayuma ** Nancy Lusanji ** Judith Serenge * 2000 Summer Olympic squad **

** Doris Wefwafwa ** Edna Chepngeno ** Emily Wesutila ** Gladys Nasikanda ** Jacqueline Makokha ** Judith Serenge ** Margaret Indakala ** Mary Ayuma ** Nancy Lusanji ** Roselidah Obunaga ** Violet Barasa * 2002 World Championship squad ** Philister Sang ** Margaret Mukoya ** Rodah Lyali ** Abigael Tarus ** Catherine Wanjiru ** Lucy Chege **

** Salome Wanjala ** Leonidas Kamende ** Violet Barasa ** Nancy Lusanji ** Mercy Wesutila * 2004 Summer Olympic squad ** Philister Sang ** Abigael Tarus ** Nancy Nyongesa ** Catherine Wanjiru **

** Roselidah Obunaga ** Leonidas Kamende ** Violet Barasa ** Gladys Nasikanda ** Mercy Wesutila ** Judith Serenge * 2007 World Cup squad ** Jane Wacu ** Diana Khisa ** Doris Palanga ** Catherine Wanjiru **

** Jackline Barasa ** Lydia Maiyo **

Brackcides Khadambi Brackcides Agala Khadambi (born 14 May 1984) is a Kenyan female volleyball player. She was captain of the Kenya women's national volleyball team and she competed in beach volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Life She was born in 1984. She ...

** Judith Tarus ** Edinah Rotich * 2011 World Cup squad **

Everlyne Makuto Everlyne Makuto (born ) is a Kenyan female volleyball player. She was part of the Kenya women's national volleyball team, but she was not named for the African Games in 2019. She participated in the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championshi ...

** Esther Wangeci ** Diana Khisa ** Ruth Jepngetich **

** Roseline Odhiambo ** Noel Murambi ** Lydia Maiyo **

** Judith Tarus ** Florence Bosire *2015 World Cup squad ** Jane Wacu **

** Esther Wangeci **

** Triza Atuka **

** Noel Murambi ** Lydia Maiyo **

** Ruth Jepngetich ** Monica Biama * 2018 World Championship squad ** Jane Wacu ** Christine Psiwa **

** Sharon Chepchumba **

** Triza Atuka **

** Noel Murambi **

(capt) ** Lorine Chebet ** Agripina Kundu ** Emmaculate Chemtai ** Edith Mukuvilani

References

External links

CAVB Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenya Women's National Volleyball Team Volleyball in Kenya

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

National women's volleyball teams