Cameroon’s Cairo Dream Ends at the Quarter-Finals

Cameroon’s Cairo Dream Ends at the Quarter-Finals

Both Mayo Kani and Litto Team bowed out of the African Women’s Club Volleyball Championship in Cairo on Monday, leaving Cameroon without representation in the last four of the continent’s premier club competition.

Mayo Kani was first to fall, facing Kenya’s KCB in what proved a difficult afternoon. Despite the effort and spirit shown by Danna Fosso and her teammates, the Cameroonian side could not find a way through, losing 0-3 in sets scored 15-25, 18-25 and 21-25. There were moments of genuine fight, but KCB were simply the sharper, more composed side on the day.

Still, context matters here. The squad led by Victoire L’or Ngon Ntame has already done better than the ninth-place finish the club recorded in 2025, and with the classification rounds still to come, a fifth-place finish remains within reach. That would be no small achievement.

For Litto Team, the exit came with an added edge of difficulty. Their quarter-final opponents were Al Ahly of Egypt, the host club, playing in front of their own supporters and showing exactly why they are one of the continent’s most formidable sides. The Egyptian giants won 3-0, with sets of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-16, and rarely looked threatened.

Wete Sissako and her teammates had actually faced Al Ahly in a warm-up match before the tournament and lost that encounter too. Finding a way to turn the tide against such an organised, confident team, on their home court, was always going to be a tall order. Ultimately, Litto Team could not quite find the spark they needed.

There was an intriguing subplot to the fixture as well. Brazilian coaches Paolo De Tarso Milagres and Luis Domingos, who serve respectively as head coach and assistant coach of the Cameroonian senior women’s national team, found themselves on opposing sides of the technical duel, with Milagres in the Al Ahly dugout and Domingos alongside the Litto Team bench.

Both Cameroonian clubs will now turn their attention to the classification phase, competing for positions between fifth and eighth place. It is not the stage any of them had hoped to be playing on, but there is still something worth fighting for before the tournament is done.