Nigeria beats Egypt to retain African U-19 Boys’ Volleyball Championship title

Nigeria is now back-to-back champion of the African Nations U-19 Boys’ Volleyball Championship following its three straight sets (3-0) defeat of Egypt in the final of the competition held in Morocco.

The Nigerian boys won the sets 25-20, 25-18 and 31-29 in a game they dictated from the first set.

[files] Volleyball . Photo/PIXABAY

They resumed their stranglehold on the match in the second half, which they won by 25 to 18.    The Pharaohs tried to claw their way back in the third set, matching the champions point for point.

At a time, the game was tied at 25 to 25, before Nigeria eventually raced to 31 to 29 points to win the match.    Speaking at the end of the encounter, Nigeria’s U-19 Boys Head Coach, Adekalu Adeniyi, praised the relentless efforts of his players, saying the boys played according to instructions from the first to the third set.

He added: “Today is the happiest day of my life in 2022 because we retained the trophy we won in 2020. The players showed greatness from the first day of the championship and exhibited a high level of discipline during the course of play. 

“I want to thank God Almighty for the opportunity given to me as the head coach to win the U-19 African Nations Volleyball Championship again.

“For record purposes, Coach Sani Mohammed and I won the 2018 African Youth Games title; I won the 2020 U-19 Boys African Nations Volleyball Championship held in Nigeria as an assistant coach and now I am lifting the trophy as head coach.

“I want to also appreciate the Nigeria Volleyball Federation, led by Musa Nimrod, for their tremendous support to the success of the team as well as every Nigerian.”

Adeniyi said the players still have a long way to go despite their superb performance.

“All the players have