Rwanda’s volleyball team defeated Tanzania on Friday.
Rwanda men’s volleyball team on Saturday faced off with Algeria in the quarterfinals of the 2023 African Volleyball Championship underway in Cairo, Egypt. By press time, Algeria was leading by 2 sets to 0, with the third set already dominated by the North Africans.
Rwanda booked a quarterfinal berth after defeating their Tanzanian counterparts 3-1 (25-22, 27-29, 25-21, 25-12) in their Friday’s round of 16 at the 2023 African Volleyball Championship underway in Cairo, Egypt.
With this triumph, Rwanda was expected to take on a tough opponent to overcome as they will battle it out against the two-time champions, Algeria, who have advanced after beating Ghana in three straight sets.
Paulo De Tarso’s team had come to face Tanzania, who finished their group-stage campaign with a third-place finish, in the round of 16 after finishing second in Group D with six points.
De Tarso’s men had a great incentive to compete in the round of 16, hoping to progress comfortably, and it all started according to plan at Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex as they snapped up a 25-22 victory over Tanzanians in the first set.
Tanzania prevailed 29-27 in the second set to tie the match at 1-1 in sets and fend off losing in three straight sets. From then on, Rwanda became aware that they must exert more effort or risk suffering a defeat and being eliminated.
The boys celebrate the win against Tanzania.
Through their magnificent serves and composure, Rwanda outplayed Tanzania in the third and fourth sets, propelling them to 25-21 and a staggering 25-12 to secure a 3-1 win and progress to the quarterfinals.
“It was a very difficult match, I’m really happy to see that we have a better level in this competition. Tanzania was a very organized team, but our team is better, we have taller and stronger players. We deserved the win, so I’m very proud of our boys,” said Rwanda head coach Paulo De Tarso.
De Tarso faces a taxing task in achieving what he failed to do in the 2021 edition, when Rwanda trounced 3-0 (17-25, 23-25, 17-25) by Morocco in the quarterfinals in front of their home crowd, and ultimately finished sixth.
Northern African countries have long displayed their dominance in African volleyball, making it a difficult test for Rwanda to face one of them. Rwanda’s best result ever in the Men’s African Volleyball Championship was a fifth-place finish in 2005.
As part of their impressive Group A finish, Algeria won all two group-stage games against host nation Egypt and Burundi to pull off six points and finished first.
