Africa Volleyball Championship Exposed Nigeria’s Weakness, Masajedi Says
By Saheed Afolabi
Nigeria’s men’s volleyball head coach, Ryan Masajedi has highlighted how the Africa Volleyball Championship revealed his side’s weaknesses and areas of improvement.
Nigeria saw its hopes of qualifying for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics banished by Morocco in a gripping quarterfinal at the 2026 African Men’s Volleyball Nations Championship.
The West Africa giant fell 3-2 to the North Africans on Monday, September 21, after a seesaw battle that went the full five sets.
Nigeria claimed the opening set 25-20, only for Morocco to seize control with consecutive wins of 25-15 and 25-20. The Nigerians forced a decider by edging the fourth set 26-24, yet Morocco held firm to take the fifth 15-12 and advance to the semifinals.
Speaking after the match, the Masajedi focused on the positives of the team while acknowledging the bench role in making the difference in the game.
“We did our best and I am proud of the players,” Masajedi said.
“The bench made the difference in the fourth set when we thought everything was over.”
He’s convinced the tournament disclosed the areas where the team needs better reinforcement or replacement after the competition.
“To be honest, we already understand what our weaknesses and strengths are. We’ll look at the match after this tournament and look at what went wrong.”
Attention now shifts to the classification round, where Nigeria faces Rwanda in the battle for 5th to 9th place. Masajedi hopes that the squad’s focus remains forward-looking.
“The focus is the next game, and the players will be ready.”
Despite the Olympic qualification setback, the coach’s message was one of measured optimism rooted in the effort shown against a strong Moroccan side.
