NAIROBI, Kenya — Rwanda’s women’s volleyball team moved into the semi-finals of the 2026 African Women’s National Volleyball Championship on Tuesday after beating Ghana 3-1 in Nairobi, keeping alive the country’s… The post Rwanda Reaches African Volleyball Championship Semis as U20 Football Team Gets Tough Tanzania Draw appeared first on KT PRESS .
NAIROBI, Kenya — Rwanda’s women’s volleyball team moved into the semi-finals of the 2026 African Women’s National Volleyball Championship on Tuesday after beating Ghana 3-1 in Nairobi, keeping alive the country’s hopes of winning a continental title with major Olympic and World Championship qualification implications.
Rwanda won 25-17, 24-26, 25-19, 25-18 at the Kasarani Indoor Arena, recovering after Ghana levelled the match by taking the second set.
The match lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes, with Rwanda scoring 99 points to Ghana’s 80 across the four sets.
Opposite hitter Aloysie Tuyishime was Rwanda’s leading scorer with 22 points, including 20 attacks and two blocks. She was named Player of the Match.
Rwanda controlled the opening set after building an eight-point advantage at 13-5.
Ghana responded in the second set, eventually winning 26-24 after the teams reached 24-24.
Rwanda restored middle blocker Donatha Musabyemaliya to the lineup in the third set and regained control, winning 25-19 before closing out the match 25-18.
The semi-final will be played on Thursday, September 3, against the winner of the quarter-final between Tunisia and Egypt.
The tournament carries stakes beyond the continental title.
The African champion will qualify directly for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, while the top three teams will earn places at the 2027 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship.
For Rwanda, that makes the semi-final more than a medal opportunity. A place in the top three would secure a place at the next world championship, while winning the tournament would provide a direct route to the Olympics.
Rwanda’s U20 football team, meanwhile, has been drawn against Tanzania and Ethiopia in Group A of the CECAFA U20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The tournament will take place in Tanzania from September 15 to 25, with matches scheduled at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
Nine countries are competing, divided into three groups of three.
Group A: Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia
Group B: Uganda, Sudan, Djibouti
Group C: South Sudan, Burundi, Kenya
The three group winners will automatically advance to the semi-finals, with the best-performing runner-up joining them in the last four.
The qualification stakes are significant: the two finalists will qualify to represent the CECAFA region at the 2027 CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana.
Rwanda therefore faces a short but demanding route. It must finish among the strongest teams in a regional tournament in which Tanzania has home advantage and Ethiopia is also competing for the same two continental qualification places.
For Rwanda’s senior sports programme, the two competitions offer different opportunities.
The volleyball team is already among Africa’s final four and is chasing Olympic and world-championship qualification.
The U20 football team is only beginning its qualification campaign, but its path to the continental tournament has been clearly defined: survive the group, reach the final and finish among the two teams representing the region at the 2027 U20 AFCON.
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