APR Volleyball Club head coach Sammy Mulinge is looking to build on club’s title glory in the just-concluded Taxpayers appreciation volleyball tournament to conquer the CAVB Zone V Club Championship which kicks off in Kigali on Tuesday and runs through November 19.

APR were Sunday crowned champions of the Taxpayers Appreciation tournament after overcoming Kepler’s scare to claim a hard-fought 3-2 set victory in a thrilling final held at BK Arena.

The military side goes into the regional tournament looking motivated and Mulinge wants to see his men building on the form to topple their regional opponents who are in Kigali for the competition.

"Winning the Taxpayers tournament is a big motivation for us and we are focused on doing well in the Zone V. It’s a big competition that every team, including ours, wants to win. It’s our target too and we need to do much better to win the trophy," the Kenyan coach said.

The tournament has attracted six men’s teams while five teams will be competing in women’s category. Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda are all represented.

Defending Champions Gisagara VC will miss out on the tournament as club experiences squad shortage due to massive player exodus just few days which unfolded just few days before the Championship.

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APR are pooled in Group A alongside domestic rivals Rwanda Energy Group (REG) VC and Amical Volleyball Club (Burundi). Their first test will be against Burundian champions Amical de Bujumbura at BK Arena on Wednesday, November 15.

Kigali is hosting the premier club showpiece for the second time having hosted the maiden men’s edition in 2019.

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CAVB Zone V Championship has been rebranded from defunct East and Central Africa Club Championships that was last held in 2007 in Nairobi. The most recent edition was held in 2019 at the Petit Stadium in Kigali before it was halted due to COVID-19.

The championship will be held in a round robin format.

Groups

Men

Pool A: REG (Rwanda), APR (Rwanda) and Amical VC (Burundi)

Pool B: Police (Rwanda), Sport-S (Uganda) and Kepler (Rwanda)

Women: Police (Rwanda), RRA (Rwanda), Kenya Pipelines VC (Kenya), APR (Rwanda) and KCCA (Uganda)

Tuesday fixtures

Women

Police WVC vs KCCA WVC (12:00PM)

RRA WVC vs APR WVC (2PM)

Men

POLICE vs Kepler (4PM)

REG vs Amical (6PM)