Uganda out of African Volleyball Championship after Cameroon defeat

CAVB Women’s African Nations Volleyball Championship

Quarter-finals

Cameroon 3 Uganda 0

Uganda women's volleyball coach Soita Protus Barasa has blamed poor reception, defence, and failure to follow the game plan for the Lady Volleyball Cranes' 3-0 loss to Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 2026 CAVB Women's African Nations Volleyball Championship.

Cameroon won 25-18, 25-20, 25-18 at Kasarani Arena in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday to end Uganda's hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

Soita admitted that Uganda made too many mistakes, which allowed the three-time African champions to control the match.

"We made many mistakes in the game, especially in reception, defence, and positioning. The players also made many costly errors, and that is why we lost the game," he said.

Uganda struggled to match Cameroon's attack, with the hosts scoring 36 attack points compared to Uganda's 31.

Cameroon also had the advantage in blocking, collecting 10 points against Uganda's seven.

Uganda made 21 attack errors, compared to Cameroon's 15.

Soita said the team must return to its plan in the remaining matches.

"We moved away from our game plan, but in the classification games we will work on these areas and remind the girls to stick to the game plan," he added.

Captain Catherine Ainembabazi was Uganda's leading scorer with 11 points, including eight attacks, two blocks, and one service point.

Joan Tushemereirwe scored nine points, while Lydia Lamaro added seven.

For Cameroon, Adiana led the scoring with eight points, while Baran, Moussoll, and Djeutchoko scored seven points each.

Uganda lost the opening set 25-18 before Cameroon took the second 25-20. The Ugandans tried to fight back in the third set, but Cameroon held on to win 25-18.

The Lady Volleyball Cranes had reached the last eight after beating the Democratic Republic of Congo 3-0 in the Round of 16.

They had earlier beaten Senegal and Burkina Faso 3-0 in the group stage before losing 3-0 to Egypt.

Uganda will now play in the classification matches for positions 5-8, where Soita's team will look to recover from the quarter-final defeat and finish strongly in the championship.

The African champion will qualify directly for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. The top three teams will also qualify for the 2027 FIVB Volleyball World Championship.