Rwanda women lost their opening game of the 2023 African Nations Volleyball Championship following a shock 25-16, 25-20, 25-17 defeat to the Malakia Strikers of Kenya on Wednesday at Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, Cameroon.

Kenya, who were finalists of the 2021 edition, started in highflying form and easily claimed the first set 25-16.

Paulo De Tarso’s side tried to minimize the mistakes as they pushed to fight back in the second but Kenya still proved their dominance and won the set 25-20 to keep the game in control before winning the final set 25-17 to win theirnfordt game in Group B.

In the same group, Morocco beat Burkina Faso 3-0 (25-18, 25-11 and 25-07) while Uganda also beat Lesotho 3-0 (25-10, 25-05 and 25-10).

In other matches, in Group A, Nigeria beat Mali 3-0 (25-18, 25-14 and 25-20).

Rwanda will return to action on Thursday, August 17, to play Lesotho before facing Burkina Faso on Friday.

De Tarso’s ladies will face neighbors Uganda on Saturday before winding up their group stage matches against Morocco on Sunday.

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

The tournament was expected to attract 17 teams but five teams pulled out in the last minute.

The Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon will be looking to defend the trophy they won in Kigali in 2021 after beating Kenya in the final 3-1 sets (25-21, 25-23, 15 -25 and 25-23).