2017 Volleyball Nations Cup: Nigeria lost to Morocco in opener

By Akeem Lawal

Nigeria's men national volleyball team on Tuesday evening lost 1-3 to Morocco in their opening match in Pool C of the 2017 Men's African Nations championship holding at Cairo Stadium Complex in Egypt, Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports.

The coach Japhet Nuhu side won the first set 26-24 but could not maintain the lead, allowing the North Africans to rally back and claim the 2nd and 3rd sets 20-25, 17-25 respectively.

Team Nigeria will on Wednesday face an uphill task against Cameroon who fought powerfully to overcome Morocco 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19) on Monday.

The Nigerian side were originally scheduled to take on Cameroon in their first game on Monday, but the match was moved to Wednesday following their late arrival to the competition.

Giants Egypt, Tunisia, Rwanda and Algeria have already confirmed their tickets to the quarterfinal of the championship as they all captured second victory in a raw on Day 2 at Cairo Stadium Complex in Egypt on Monday.

Egypt (EGY) flew past Congo RDC (COD) 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-11) in a one side game to lead Pool A with 6 points in 2 matches followed by both Congo RD who defeated Niger 3-0 on Tuesday.

Tunisia overpowered Kenya 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-22) to improved to 2-0 in Pool B.

Algeria marked second victory over Chad 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-19) while Rwanda (RWA) also set second win against Botswana in Pool D 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-17). Both winners Algeria and Rwanda improve to 2-0 to secure a second round berth, followed by Botswana and Chad 0-2.

The 2017 Men's African championship doubles also as 2018 World Championship qualifiers where the top three African teams book their tickets to represent Africa in the FIVB Prestigious championship which holds in Japan.