Nigeria are back to back champions of the U19 Boys African Nations Volleyball Championship following their 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 31-29) thrashing of Egyptian counterparts in Morocco on Sunday.
Coach Adekalu Adeniyi-led boys dictated the pace of the final match from start to finish winning the first set 25-20 before thrashing the Egyptians 25-18 in the second set.
The Egyptian resumed the third set with high spirits, taking points alongside the Nigerian team and dragged the game to 25- 25 points before Nigeria’s boys dug deep to win set 31- 29 points.
The Head Coach of Nigeria U19 Boys Team, Adekalu Adeniyi praised the relentless efforts of the players against Egypt, saying the boys played according to instructions from the first to the third set to retain the title for Nigeria.
“Today is the happiest day of my life in 2022 because Nigeria retained the trophy won in 2020. The players played according to the game plan from the blast of the whistle and never complained whenever they lost points.
“The players have shown 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 U19 African Nations Volleyball Championship again.
“For record purposes, I and Coach Sani Mohammed won the 2018 African Youth Games title, emerged Champions of the 2020 U19 Boys African Nations Volleyball Championship held in Nigeria (as assistant coach); now I am lifting the trophy as the head coach.
“I want to also appreciate the Nigeria Volleyball Federation led by Engineer Musa Nimrod for their tremendous support to the success of the team as well as every Nigerian,” Adeniyi said.
An elated president of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), Engineer Musa Nimrod, applauded the team for emerging African champions back to back.
“Congratulations to Team Nigeria, conquering the African U19 Boys Championship back to back,” Nimrod stated.
