The head coach of Nigeria women’s volleyball team, Samuel Ajayi says his team have to beat Algeria when both teams meet in the last group stage match of the 2023 African Senior Women’s Nations Volleyball Championship on Sunday.
Ajayi made the statement after Nigeria lost to Egypt 0-3 (14-25, 17-25, 20-25) on matchday 4 of the volleyball championship on Saturday.
He said beating Algeria in the last group stage matches will put Nigeria in a better position ahead of the Quarterfinals.
Ajayi said, “By the grace of God, Nigeria will secure victory against Algeria on Sunday. If they can put up a good performance against Egypt, I believe they will do better against Algeria because they know we need the match to secure a comfortable place in the quarterfinal”.
Ajayi commended his players for giving the Egyptian team a good fight as well as sticking to instructions.
The NSCDC coach revealed that his side lost the third set due to lack of adequate exposure of the team to international friendlies.
He said, “The performance of the team was excellent because their mentality and approach to the match against Egypt was impressive. They stuck to the game plan from the beginning of the match to the last set and you saw that there was steady progression in the score line.
“The players coordinated themselves and put pressure on the Egyptians, we did not give them any respect as leaders of Pool A.”
He further said, “I am proud of the players with their wonderful display against Egypt; I am sure if they had little exposure outside the country, the third set would have been our set. We lost to a more experienced and tactical team in the third set; unfortunately, exposure failed us.
Nigeria will face Algeria on Sunday by 1pm at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports de Yaoundé.
