National volleyball women league giants, APR, have announced the signing of right-attacker Seraphine ‘Baby’ Mukantambara, in a move that will end her ten-year stint with rivals Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) volleyball club.

Under the deal, the Rwanda international joins the APR outfit on a two year contract.

"She [Mukantambara] is a player with proven talent and quality, her arrival is a great boost to our squad. We are happy to have her in our ranks for the new season,” Assistant coach Marie Jose Rubayiza Umutesi told Times Sport on Tuesday.

Playing career

Mukantambara was recruited in 2010 by Paul Bitok, who was the national team coach at the time during a training session that took place at St. Aloys Secondary School in Rwamagana.

Bitok, who has nurtured several current volleyball stars, selected her as part of the team for a training camp that was to be held in Ruhango district in preparation for the regional FEASSA games that were to be held in Kenya.

In her five year spell at RRA Volleyball club, Mukantambara won numerous titles with the league defending champions.

On a personal level, she has won six MVP in different competitions, including; Genocide memorial tournaments (2012, 2013), 2014 MVP and 2015 best attacker at KAVC tournament in Uganda, MVP Africa Youth Olympic Games (2014) and best attacker in the 2016 Genocide memorial tourney.

National duty

Mukantambara captained the girls’ youth team to a third place finish in the 2014 Africa Youth Olympic Games in Botswana, where she claimed the tournament’s MVP award.

She was part of the national women’s youth team that finished 4th in African Championships in Cairo, Egypt in 2011 and also finished 4th with the junior team in Tunisia, the same year.

Again in 2014, she was part of the national youth team that finished top in qualifiers of the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Ghana, but failed to impress at the eventual Games in Nanjing, China where Rwanda finished in a disappointing 25th place.