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Subscribe to Volleyball World: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNMg... Hamamatsu, Japan, September 14, 2019 – USA beat Kenya 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-14) in the first match of the FIVB Women’s World Cup at Hamamatsu Arena on Saturday. USA coach Karch Kiraly: "I want to congratulate Team Kenya. We studied them on video and saw them today and we see them playing the best volleyball we’ve ever seen them. Every year, they are getting better and better and that’s a real credit to their learning and to their coaches. We also have great admiration for the spirit that they play with, their competitive spirit their joy of playing volleyball. "On our side of the net, we tried really hard to just play the next play as best as we can, and we’re prepared to do that a few thousand times in this tournament. We did a pretty good job on that today and we look forward to battling Serbia tomorrow." On the new Mikasa volleyball: "We’ve gotten to work with the ball for about four weeks of training and this is our first competition with it. Seems like it will be great." USA captain Jordan Larson: "First, we are excited to be here. Thanks to Kenya for a great match. For us, we’re starting to build something and we’re just trying to get better every day. Just proud of our team for this start and we’re hoping to build off that." On the new Mikasa volleyball: "I do think it is different, for sure. I think it’s not moving as much laterally but in general it’s pretty consistent and I’ve been really impressed by the ball so far." On playing Japan: I’m always impressed by the Japanese team and it’s always an honour to play Japan in Japan. The crowd is always amazing and it’s one of my favourite matches and we’re looking forward to it and I’m excited." Kenya coach Paul Bitok: "First, I would like to congratulate USA for winning the match. I think we came in knowing we are playing a big team and some of my players were a bit afraid because they are a big team and we respect them. We lost a lot of points at the beginning of the match because of this. The players were panicking, but we came back in the second set when we stabilised. I think we improved on reception. This is what we were looking for in this tournament, to have good reception. "Today, I really appreciated my players for doing good. Maybe one or two players still have this problem but I think we will learn from this match so we can correct it and improve. Maybe USA were more stable and didn’t have any pressure. I also used the match to bring in two young players (Sharon Kiprono and Lorine Kaei) and they came in at a good level and I hope that these players will help me in the future." Kenya captain Mercy Moim: "My team played so well. At a point, we lost concentration. In the first set, we played bad. Our reception was good but we lost in the attacks, but in the second set we had better results. I think they are a very good team and they gave us good motivation." On the new Mikasa volleyball: "I think for us it was the first time to see the ball. We adapted to it yesterday and it’s not bad, but it’s a bit small." On playing Japan: I think against Japan it’s going to be the best match because they play a fast game and we play almost the same game. I think it’s going to be a an interesting game. I like playing against the Japan team."
