Egypt end 21-year wait for African volleyball title after overcoming Kenya

Egypt’s women’s volleyball team won the African title for only the fourth time in their history – and their first since 2003 – after beating hosts Kenya 3-0 in the final.

The victory was achieved in Kenya, who hold the competition record with 10 titles, and completed a remarkable campaign in which Egypt did not lose a single set.

Beziers player and Egypt international Nada Moawad said she became confident her team could win the championship after their quarter-final against Tunisia.

“I believed we would win the title after the Tunisia match,” Moawad said on Modern. “At the beginning, we were getting into the rhythm of the matches, but after the knockout stages I saw that we were better in every technical and psychological aspect.”

“That is why I said this team would win the title,” she added.

Egypt had reached the final of the previous edition but lost to Kenya, while they had also been beaten by the same opponents in the semi-finals before that. Moawad admitted those previous defeats made the final particularly difficult.

“We were worried in the final because we were facing Kenya in their own stadium,” she said. “Kenya have won the title 10 times. We reached the final in the previous edition and lost to them, and before that we reached the semi-finals and lost to them as well. I did not want to feel that disappointment again.”

The scale and noise of the home support also presented a major challenge for Egypt.

“We were surprised by the number of Kenya fans in the hall,” Moawad said. “We saw people sitting on the walls and on the same seats, and we could not hear each other. There were many whistles that sounded like the referee’s whistle. Even during the national anthem, there were whistles and a great deal of disruption.”

Moawad also described a series of difficulties the Egyptian team experienced during the tournament, including problems involving training schedules and team transport.

“We faced several disruptions throughout the tournament in Kenya, involving training times and delayed buses,” she said. “On one occasion, we trained in an asphalt hall that was not suitable for volleyball or even running because you could get injured.”

“On another occasion, the bus driver stopped and refused to move until he received money. It was a strange situation that we had never experienced before.”

Egypt’s triumph also secured the country’s first-ever qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. The team had already secured a place at the 2027 World Cup.

With four African titles, Egypt moved ahead of Cameroon and Tunisia in the honours list. Kenya remain the record holders with 10 championships.

Egypt also collected four individual awards, in addition to the tournament’s best-player prize. Mariam Metwally was named best blocker and best player of the tournament, while Nada Moawad won the best spiker award. Doaa Mohamed was recognised as the best setter and Nada Waleed was named best libero.

The Egypt squad, managed by coach Emad Nawar, consisted of Dana Shawky, Mariam Metwally, Doaa Mohamed, Toqa Medhat, Nada Moawad, Nour Yassin, Zeina El-Alamy, Aya Khaled, Nada Morgan, Nada Waleed, Dalia El-Morshedy, Mai Ghazal, Habiba Zaater and Sara Amin.