Volleyball: World Cup African qualifiers 2014 |13 February 2014

Seychelles women’s team head to Kenya today

The Seychelles women’s volleyball national team leave the country today and will head to Kenya for the 2014 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Cup African qualifiers.

Sports Nation met the team during their final preparations on Tuesday afternoon and head coach Nichol Lesperance was quite confident in the team’s chances.

“The preparation has been very good, the players have shown a lot of improvement and with Nathalie (Agnes) also being able to join and train with us, it has been very encouraging,” coach Lesperance noted.

The team recently returned for a training camp in Mauritius where coach Lesperance says the team had some really good performances in the test matches.

“We had the opportunity to play against Botswana, a match which we won 3-0 against much taller players and this has really given me hope that we can do well in Kenya,” he added.

The Seychelles team have been drawn in a group made up of hosts Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda, Tunisia and Cape Verde. Only a first place finish in the group will guarantee the team passage to World Cup finals to be held in Italy.

“I think that we can make it,” said the head coach. “Kenya will probably be a big test for us, but we have met them in the past and know them very well. Although we have lost against them in the past, I feel the quality of the team I have now can give us the first place we need.”

Seychelles’ first game will be against Senegal on Sunday.

Along with Nathalie Agnes, Seychelles other professional, Marielle Bonne, will be joining the squad in Kenya for the tournament.

The squad heading to Kenya has some quality players with the likes of Petra Richard and Manuela Monthy who have impressed coach Lesperance, while the quality of volleyballer of the year and team captain Terille Songoire will be key to the team’s success.

Coach Lesperance is being assisted by former Seychelles national team player Marie-Ange Bouchereau and they will have a squad of 12 players for the Kenya trip.

The following are the players who will be making the journey: Terille Songoire (captain), Petra Richard, Berlira Jacqueline, Flora Lesperance, Nathalie Agnes, Manuela Monthy, Antoinette Quatre, Vanita Rose, Petrina Victor, Rona Dubignon, Melina Crispin and Marielle Bonne.

Seychelles beat Mauritius 3-2 (25-19, 29-31, 19-25, 25-22, 15-11) to qualify for the final round of qualifiers. Should the Seychelles team qualify, they will come up against opponents like defending champions Russia in the World Cup finals which take place from September 23 to October 12.
 
The FIVB Women’s World Cup will feature 24 teams divided into four pools of six teams for the first round which will be played on a round-robin system over five days – three matches per day – with four cities (Rome, Trieste, Bari and Verona) hosting a pool each.

The top four teams of each pool will advance to the second round where the 16 teams will be split into two pools of eight (top four teams of Pool A and D will play in Pool E, top four of Pool B and Pool C will play in Pool F), with the top three of each pool advancing to the third round.
 
Russia are the two-time defending champions after Italy won the title in 2002. Italy, Thailand, Japan, Russia, Germany, Brazil, China, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Turkey, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Serbia and Netherlands are the sides who have already qualified for the finals.

S. N.