Rwanda’s hopes of reaching the semifinals of the 2026 Africa Men’s Nations Volleyball Championship were ended by hosts Tunisia, who secured a straight-sets victory (25-13, 25-18, 25-18) in the quarterfinals on Monday in Tunis.

Rwanda booked their place in the last eight after sweeping aside The Gambia in the Round of 16, setting up a difficult meeting with the tournament hosts.

Against Tunisia, head coach Frédéric Guérin made one change to his starting six, bringing in Samuel Niyonzima for outside hitter Eric Kwizera.

The opening set began competitively, with the two sides trading points as Rwanda stayed within touching distance at 8-9.

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However, Tunisia gradually took control, tightening up defensively and putting increasing pressure on Rwanda’s attack.

The 11-time African champions also managed to contain Rwanda captain and main scoring outlet Wicklif Dusenge while exploiting weaknesses in Rwanda’s reception.

Tunisia pulled away in the latter stages to take the opening set 25-13.

Rwanda struggled to find a response in the second set as Tunisia maintained the pressure. The hosts’ powerful attacks repeatedly breached Rwanda’s defence, allowing them to build a comfortable lead before taking the set 25-18.

The third set followed a similar pattern, with Rwanda unable to overturn Tunisia’s advantage.

Dusenge and middle blocker Emmy Twagirayezu continued to lead Rwanda’s scoring, finishing with 11 and seven points respectively. Their efforts, however, were not enough to stop Tunisia from completing the victory with another 25-18 set win.

The defeat ends Rwanda’s hopes of a semifinal place and sends them into the classification matches for fifth to eighth place.