Volleyball: World Cup African qualifiers |05 February 2014

Seychelles teams receive fixtures

The 2014 African qualifiers of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Championship are fast approaching and the Seychelles women’s and men’s teams already know their match dates.

The country’s teams face tough matches in their bid to make it to the world championship for the first time.

The women’s national team will on February 15 travel to Kenya where they have been drawn in group B alongside hosts Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda, Tunisia and Cape Verde. Only the winning team will qualify for the Worlds which will be held in Italy from September 23 to October 12. Russia will be looking to defend their title.

Captained by Yvonne Legaie, the Seychelles team beat Mauritius 3-2 (25-19, 29-31, 19-25, 25-22, 15-11) away to qualify for the final leg of the qualifiers.

Coach Nichol Lesperance’s team will play their opening match of the tournament on February 16 against Senegal. This will be followed by matches against Tunisia on February 18, Uganda on February 19, Cape Verde on February 20, Kenya on February 21 and Mozambique on February 22,

The men’s side have been drawn in group C and will compete from March 2-8 in Tunisia. There are three places up for grabs for men’s African teams and Seychelles will be looking to be among the three sides who will make the trip to Poland.  The World Cup final will take place from September 3-21 2014, with Brazil going as the defending world champions.

Seychelles qualified for the last leg of the qualifiers after beating Mauritius 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-16, 15-9) in the Zone 7 zonal round qualifiers in October last year.

Seychelles will face Senegal in their opening match on March 3 before defying Tunisia on March 5, Congo on March 6 and Niger on March 7.
Below are the complete fixtures:

Women

Senegal v Seychelles (February 16)

Seychelles v Tunisia (February 18)

Uganda v Seychelles (February 19)

Seychelles v Cape Verde (February 20)

Kenya v Seychelles (February 21)

Seychelles v Mozambique (February 22)

Men
Senegal v Seychelles (March 3)

Seychelles v Tunisia (March 5)

Congo v Seychelles (March 6)

Seychelles v Niger (March 7)

S. N.