{"id":119424,"date":"2026-02-09T10:21:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler"},"modified":"2026-02-09T11:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T11:18:12","slug":"mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler","title":{"rendered":"Mahoro faces fight for starting role at Kepler"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Kepler VC captain Ivan Mahoro has admitted he needs to raise his personal performance as his place in the starting lineup comes under serious threat.<\/p>\n

The star setter, who joined the club in 2023, has frequently started from the bench since the beginning of the league\u2019s second phase, with head coach Jean Patrick Ndaki currently preferring Ugandan setter Oboke Marina.<\/p>\n

Ivan Mahoro. Courtesy<\/p>\n

Mahoro was given playing time as Kepler came from behind to defeat East African University Rwanda (EAUR) on Saturday, February 7.<\/p>\n

While praising the team\u2019s quick recovery from Friday\u2019s tie-break loss to Gisagara VC, Mahoro admitted he is not fully satisfied with his individual performances and believes he can do more to return to his best level.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy performance hasn\u2019t been bad, but I know I can still improve to reach the level I expect of myself,\u201d Mahoro told Times Sport. \u201cHowever, the coach makes decisions based on his tactics, which may not always align with what players expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kepler remain firmly in the race for a playoff spot, currently sitting third in the league standings with two matches left against Rwanda Polytechnic Ngoma and Police VC before the regular season concludes on February 28.<\/p>\n

At present, five teams\u2014Gisagara VC, APR VC, Kepler VC, Police VC, and Rwanda Energy Group (REG)\u2014are battling for the four available playoff places, with the postseason scheduled to run from March 13 to April 5.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Kepler VC captain Ivan Mahoro has admitted he needs to raise his personal performance as his place in the starting lineup comes under serious threat. The star setter, who joined the club in 2023, has frequently started from the bench since the beginning of the league\u2019s second phase, with head coach Jean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":119423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[9322,5231,758,980],"class_list":["post-119424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-ivan-mahoro","tag-kepler-vc","tag-rwanda","tag-volleyball"],"yoast_head":"\nMahoro faces fight for starting role at Kepler - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kepler VC captain Ivan Mahoro has admitted he needs to raise his personal performance as his place in the starting lineu ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mahoro faces fight for starting role at Kepler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kepler VC captain Ivan Mahoro has admitted he needs to raise his personal performance as his place in the starting lineu ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-09T10:21:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-09T11:18:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770622992.408523.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mahoro faces fight for starting role at Kepler\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-09T10:21:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-09T11:18:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler\"},\"wordCount\":254,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770622992.408523.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ivan Mahoro\",\"Kepler VC\",\"Rwanda\",\"volleyball\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mahoro-faces-fight-for-starting-role-at-kepler\",\"name\":\"Mahoro faces fight for starting role at Kepler - 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