Hard-Fighting Nigeria Men Team Exit Africa Volleyball Championship At Quarter- Final Stage
Nigeria’s good run in this year’s men’s Africa Nations Volleyball Championship ended Monday in the quarter- final stage.
In an closely fought game decided at the El Menzah Sports Place in Tunis, Tunisia, the Nigerian men fell 2-3 to Morocco who now advance to the semi- finals of the championship.
The Ryan Masajedi coached Nigerian team took the fisrt set 25-20, then lost concentration in the second set to slip up, 15-25.
The Moroccans went 2-1 up with a 25-20 advantage in the third set before Nigeria fought gallantly to edge the 4th set, 26-26.
The fifth and deciding set produced the best outing of both teams, however, Morocco showed greater composure to win the set 15-12.
The loss ends Nigeria’s hope of playing in the 2027 World Championship and the 2028 Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Los Angeles USA.
Consequently, they dropped into 5th to 8th classification bracket which also features Egypt, Rwanda and Ghana,
The Moroccans march on to the semi finals, ensures that three North Africans are through to the final four with Cameroon completing the number
The last four matches comes up on Wednesday 23 September with Morocco playing hosts Tunisia while Cameroon confronts Algeria.
The eventual champion will qualify for the Olympics while the top three nations in the tournament will represent Africa at the 2027 World Championship.
