On July 29 in Tokyo, Serbia will play Kenya. The first two games the Serbian team won without a sweep – they beat the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-20) and Japan 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 26:24). But African volleyball teams were defeated by Japan 0:3 (15:25, 11:25, 23:25) and South Korea 0:3 (14:25 22:25 24;26). Serbia and Kenya last met just in Japan in 2019 World Cup. Then the girls from Balkan Peninsula won three sets – 3 to 0 (2513 2511 2517).
Serbia
The Serbians didn’t notice the resistance of the Dominican Republic and Japan. Though I was a little wrong, but in the game against our hosts, everything wasn’t perfect. Though they were not without a bit of luck, girls from Balkan Peninsula have to improve.
Kenya
Serbia has 2 dry matches. They beat Kenya and have not lost. Kenya also played against two teams in Asia, but they lost to Japan first and then to South Korea. But I don’t think they are doing very bad because they could win one set in the first game and another set in the second game.
Personal meetings
The Serbian team beat the African team in all 5 games. The African team won only one game and lost. The last meeting was in 2019 and the Serbian girls won quite easily. It is unlikely that we will see Kenyan girls do well now because of what happened before.
Serbia vs Kenya
In spite of the fact that we have a favorite team, bookmakers are probably wrong by betting on the total amount of points. Africans clearly lack skills but they are always physically and functionally well prepared. It is more likely that they will be able to put up a tight and competitive fight in at least one set. This may be enough to break such a small total – (120.5).
This is the first time Kenya has played a team that is not from Azith. It is hard to know what will happen, but they are strong and might win one of the sets. They have been close in two games in a row, but were unlucky or had trouble with skill. The Serbian team was one away from losing against Japan when we saw them play last week, so they will also be able to put up a fight against Kenya and maybe even win one set.
