Masajedi Urges Nigeria to Learn from Morocco Defeat as Volleyball Championship Continues

Nigeria men’s volleyball head coach Ryan Masajedi has urged his players to learn from their narrow quarter-final defeat to Morocco at the 2026 African Men’s Nations Volleyball Championship in Tunisia.

The Nigerians were beaten 3-2 by Morocco on Sunday in a closely fought encounter after recovering from a two-set deficit to force a deciding fifth set.

Masajedi said the team had identified its strengths and weaknesses and must use the experience gained from the defeat to improve in future competitions.

“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.

Despite missing out on the semi-finals, the coach praised his players for their determination and highlighted the impact of those who came off the bench during the contest.

“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 made an encouraging start by winning the opening set 25-20, but Morocco responded strongly to take the second set 25-15 before edging the third 25-21.

With their tournament hopes on the line, the Nigerians refused to give up and produced another determined performance in the fourth set, winning 26-24 to force the match into a deciding set.

Morocco, however, held their composure in the fifth set and secured a 15-12 victory to book their place in the semi-finals.

Masajedi has now called on his players to recover quickly and shift their attention to the remaining matches as they look to finish the tournament strongly.

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

Morocco will face hosts Tunisia in one of the semi-finals, while Cameroon will meet Algeria in the other last-four encounter.

Cameroon secured their semi-final place after defeating Ghana 3-2, while Algeria also prevailed by the same scoreline against Egypt.

Nigeria will continue their campaign in the classification match against Rwanda on Wednesday, with the team seeking to end the championship on a positive note after their quarter-final setback.