Sunday

Final match, Men

APR 0-3 Rayon Sports

Women

RRA 3-1 Nairobi Water (Ken)

DEBUTANTS Rayon Sports and Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) were outstanding as they defied odds to win the 2014 edition of the Genocide Memorial Tournament which climaxed over the weekend at Amahoro indoor stadium.

Rayon Sports volleyball club defeated rivals APR 3-0 to clinch the men’s title while Rwanda Revenue Authority hit Kenya-based Nairobi Water 3-1 to emerge champions in the women category.

The Nyanza-based side which had earlier in the league season lost to APR 3-1, dominated the army side, registering a clean sheet in all the three sets which ended 25-16, 25-16 and 25-23. Besides the trophy, they were also given a cash prize worth Rwf 500,000 while APR received Rwf300, 000 and Sport-S from Uganda, who finished in third place, walked away with Rwf150, 000.

Enroute to the final, Rayon Sports had seen off Kigali Volleyball Club 3-0 while APR beat Uganda’s Sport-S 3-1 in the semi final round.

Rayon Sports volleyball club head coach Fidele Nyirimana said, "I’m happy with the performance of my players. I congratulate them for the efforts each one of them put in to make this dream a reality.”

APR’s head coach Kenyan Sammy Mutemi Mulinge said fatigue was the cause of the loss. "We faced strong opponents in our group matches and I have an inexperienced team and that’s why we got punished by a better side,”

Meanwhile, both APR and Rayon Sports will meet again over the weekend in the battle for the national volleyball play-offs title.