Rwanda volleyball national team lost to Morocco 3-0 in their first game at the ongoing Men’s Africa Nations Championships in Cairo, Egypt yesterday.

Rwanda surprised Morocco with an 8-2 lead in the first set but Morocco looked stronger than Rwanda and took it 25-23.

Morocco went on to win the second set 25-13 and 25-17 in the Pool B encounter. Rwanda will play their second game against Mauritius today. The latter lost to Cameroon 3-0 yesterday.

Rwanda will need to win the second game against Mauritius to keep alive their hope of reaching semi-finals.

Head coach Paul Bitok said after the match, "We were leading 14 - 7 in the first set but we went on to lose the set because of inexperience. Ivan Mahoro Nsabimana (setter) made wrong choices at the wrong time.  He still needs experience.”

He added, "We were frustrated after leading 17- 7 then we went on to lose the set. We are going to prepare for the second game against Mauritius and we need to win this game.”

Cameroon beat Botswana 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-18) in the opening match.

The 2015 Men's African Nations Championship is a qualifier for the 2015 World Cup with the winner and runner up booking their tickets to the tournament.