16th August, 2022
By Georgina Adegbie
Nigeria’s volleyball team, on Monday, defeated Morocco 3-0 in their first match at the ongoing 2022 African Under 21 Men’s Nations Volleyball Championship in Tunisia.
They defeated their counterparts in Morocco in a straight set (25-12, 25-16, 25-20) to make the score 3-0 in Tunis.
Nigeria sent a strong signal in the first set leading 7-0 before Morocco got a point off the West African side.
They pummelled the North African side 25-12 with 13 points difference in the first set.
Although the North African side gave their best in the second and third sets, the Nigerian team overcame them in style in the second set 25-16 and in the third set 25-20.
Sani Mohammed, the Nigerian team coach said the target of the team was to qualify for the 2023 FIVB U21 Men’s World Championship.
“The team will not be carried away with the win against Morocco. The win is an indication that the team is ready to take on other teams in the Championships.
“Gambia is a familiar team; Nigeria played against them at the Under 19 African Championships and they were the strong team to beat. We have to beat the Gambia and the host Tunisia to top our group or probably place second,” he said.
Michael Abari, the captain, gave an assurance that the team would defeat their next opponent in their second game.
“We know that the Gambia has a strong team, this is not the first time we are meeting them and we have defeated them before. We will definitely defeat them in our next match on Tuesday, our next match will be victorious,” he said.
Nigeria is grouped alongside Morocco, Gambia and the host Tunisia. Per schedule, Nigeria will meet Gambia on Tuesday. They will play Tunisia in their third match on Wednesday.
Eight countries: Morocco, Nigeria, Gambia, Egypt, Cameroon, Rwanda, Libya and the host Tunisia are participating in the Championships.