Nigeria’s men’s volleyball team will look to recover from its quarter-final defeat to Morocco when it takes on Rwanda in the African Men’s Volleyball Championship in Tunisia.

The Nigerian side will face Rwanda on Wednesday in the fifth-to-ninth classification match of the competition, following a narrow 3-2 loss to Morocco in the quarter-finals.

Nigeria started the quarter-final strongly, winning the opening set 25-20 before Morocco responded by taking the second and third sets 25-15 and 25-20.

The Nigerians fought back in the fourth set, edging Morocco 26-24 to force a deciding set and keep their hopes of progressing alive.

Morocco, however, secured the decisive set 15-12 to book its place in the semi-finals.

The result also ended Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games through the championship.

Nigeria head coach Ryan Masajedi said the team had moved past the disappointment and was now focused on its next assignment.

The Japanese coach said the players would review the Morocco encounter after the tournament but would concentrate on preparing for Rwanda.

Masajedi expressed pride in the team’s performance, particularly its response after falling behind in the quarter-final.

He also praised the contribution of the bench during the fourth-set comeback, saying the team already understood its strengths and areas that required improvement.

Nigeria will now aim to finish its championship campaign strongly when it meets Rwanda in the classification match.