By Abdulrahman Yahaya
Nigeria’s Men Volleyball team defeated Algeria 3-2 in their last group game of the ongoing African Men’s Volleyball Championships on Thursday in Tunisia.
Nigeria defeated the Algerians in a five-set thriller to secure qualification to the Quarter-finals of the championship.
The North Africans won the first set, edging Nigeria 25-23 points.
Nigeria came back stronger in the second set and restored parity, winning it 25-19 points, before losing the third set 25-21.
But Nigeria came back again for the second time when they defeated the Algerians 25-20 in the fourth set, and sealed the victory in the fifth set 15-12 points.
Coach of the Nigerian team, Ryan Masajedi, said he was impressed how his players managed to win after losing the first set.
“I am impressed with the way the players picked up after losing the first set. The set was in our hands but the Algerians were lucky it went in their favour.
The players have once again shown that they can perform under any circumstances and they picked up after the first set and we ended winning the match,” Masajedi said.
Masajedi added that Nigeria is now one of the tournament’s favourites after winning their first two games.
“We started the tournament playing Chad and the victory against Algeria has cemented us amongst the favourites at the Nations Championship.”
The 2026 CAVB Men’s African Nations Volleyball Championship is currently ongoing in Tunis, Tunisia, running from Sept. 13 to Sept. 25.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Joseph Edeh
