Friday, 12PM Kigali Time

Rwanda Vs Burkina Faso

Rwandan women will be hoping to maintain their winning momentum in the 2023 Women African Nations Volleyball Championship when they face Burkina Faso on Friday at Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, Cameroon.

Having lost the first game 3-0 to Group B rivals and pre tournament favorites Kenya on Wednesday, Paulo de Tarso’s women didn’t take too long to bounce back as they dominated Lesotho in three straight sets (25-4, 25-11 and 25-7) to register their first win of the tournament in style.

"The only reaction is to be happy,” De Tarso told Times Sport after the game. "No matter who is there...but, for us, it is important to have victory, to make points”

"I am impressed with the performance. I had to make changes in the lineup for the third set, and that worked for us," he added.

The Brazilian coach shared his sentiments with his players who now look to keep the momentum ahead of Friday’s game against Burkina Faso.

"I am quite impressed with our performance. However, we have to learn to be consistent in the next matches. We still have a lot of work to do and we have to keep this spirit in the next matches,” said captain Valentine Munezero.

"I am confident as players, we will grow into this competition, and the performance can only get better, game after game,” left attacker Benitha Mukandayisenga added

Rwanda will be looking to build on Lesotho win when they face Burkina Faso on Friday before taking on neighbors Uganda on Saturday. They will wind up the group matches against Morocco on Sunday.

A total of 12 teams are competing in the tournament. They include hosts Cameroon, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Egypt, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda.

Cameroon are defending champions after beating Kenya in the final 3-1 sets (25-21, 25-23, 15 -25 and 25-23) in Kigali in 2021.