V’ball: Nigeria must learn from Morocco defeat, say coach

Nigeria men’s volleyball head coach Ryan Masajedi says his team must learn from their hard-fought quarter-final defeat to Morocco at the 2026 African Men’s Nations Volleyball Championship in Tunisia, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Nigerians were edged 3-2 by Morocco on Sunday after rallying from 2-1 down to force a deciding fifth set in a thrilling quarter-final encounter.

“To be honest, we already understand what our weaknesses and strengths are. We just need to take the lessons from this game and use them in the future. I think the boys learned a good lesson today,” Masajedi said.

The coach praised his players for their fighting spirit and the contribution of the substitutes despite their failure to reach the semi-finals.

“First of all, we did our best, and I’m proud of the boys. In the first set, it looked like we were finished, but we managed to fight our way back into the game, and the bench players also made a big contribution,” he added.

Nigeria started strongly, winning the opening set 25-20, but Morocco responded by taking the second 25-15 before edging the third 25-21.

The Nigerians refused to surrender, fighting back to win the fourth set 26-24 and force the match into a decider.

Morocco, however, held their nerve in the fifth set to win 15-12 and book their place in the semi-finals.

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Masajedi urged his players to recover quickly and turn their attention to their remaining matches in the tournament.

“Now, we need to switch our focus, get some good rest and prepare for the next game,” he concluded.

Morocco will face hosts Tunisia in the semi-finals, while Cameroon will take on Algeria in the other last-four clash.

Cameroon defeated Ghana 3-2, while Algeria also edged Egypt 3-2 to secure their semi-final berths.

Nigeria will now compete in the classification match against Rwanda on Wednesday (today) as they look to finish their campaign on a positive note.