Rwanda Volleyball Club, Patriotique Rwandaise on Thursday defeated Club Femini De Carthage (CFC) of Tunisia 3-1 to record their first win at the 2025 African Women’s Volleyball Club Championship in Abuja.
This is the first game of the 2025 championship currently taking place at the Moshood Abiola National stadium, Abuja.
It was an entertaining encounter as spectators watched the Rwandan club rallied from a set down to overcome their Tunisian counterparts 3-1 (18-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-22) in the opening match.
The Tunisians dominated the first set, securing a convincing 25-18 win.
However, they struggled to maintain momentum after taking an early lead, thereby allowing the APR of Rwanda to stage a dramatic comeback to snatch the second set 26-24.
They carried the momentum into the third set, which they also won 25-23.
The Rwandan club sealed the victory with a 25-22 win in the fourth set, to triumph 3-1.
Speaking after the match, Reka’a Kameal, Coach of CFC of Tunisia, expressed disappointment with his team’s performance in their opening game, citing fatigue and inadequate rest as major factors.
“We arrived late last night and didn’t have enough time to rest.
“We were forced to play this morning at 10 a.m., which wasn’t ideal for us. As a result, we weren’t adequately prepared and had to suffer a loss.”
Kameal was optimistic about his team’s chances of progressing in the competition in spite of the loss.
“We are hoping to bounce back and win our subsequent matches.
“Our target is to reach the semifinals, and we are committed to making that happen,” he said.
APR, is in Pool A alongside Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mayo Kani Evolution (MKE) of Cameroon and CFC.
NCS will engage the Cameroonians by 5 p.m. later today in their opening match.
Zamalek Sporting Club (ZMK) of Egypt, Kenya Prisons Volleyball Club (PRI) of Kenya, Chief of Naval staff (CNS) and Spiking Stars Volleyball (SSV) of Botswana are in Pool B.
Pool C has Al Ahly Sporting Club (AHL) of Egypt, Kenya Commercial Bank Volleyball Club (KCB) of Kenya, Volleyball Club La LOI (VLL) from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sococim (SOC) of Senegal.
Clubs in Pool D are Litto Team Volleyball (LTV) of Cameroon, Kenya Pipeline Company Volleyball Club (KPC) of Kenya, Police Volleyball Club (PVC) of Rwanda and Club Ominisports Descartes of Côte d’Ivoire.
A total of 16 teams are participating in the championship holding between April 1 to April 14.
