Rwanda Girls Claim First Ever Medal in Beach Volleyball

NASSAU, Bahamas, July 22, 2017 – Rwanda girls Valentine Munezero and Penelope Musabyimana scored one for the books when the duo claimed the female bronze medal at the beach volleyball tournament of the Youth Commonwealth Games Bahamas 2017 on Saturday morning.

Munezero and Musabyimana outdueled Scotland’s Emma Waldie and Jennifer Lee 2-1 (15-21, 26-24, 15-10) to take home the bronze medal in 1 hour and 2 minutes, the first ever for the country in beach volleyball at any category in this kind of level.

Munezero and Musabyimana saved a match-point at 23-24 and went on to win the tie-breaker with a series of soft touches close to the net.

“It is great for beach volleyball back in Rwanda since this is the first medal ever for our country in beach volleyball,” said team’s coach Christophe Mudahinyuka minutes after the historical victory.

“It means that more victories can be achieved in the future at higher levels,” he added.

“It was so funny to play and win a medal”, said Valentine trying to hold back her tears. “I am very happy about winning the medal.”

Penelope added: “We played very hard to win this medal when we were down in the second set. It means a lot for our country.”