(Seychelles News Agency) - Three teams from Seychelles will be participating in the 26^th edition of the zone 7 club championship of the African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) in Madagascar which begins on Saturday.

The Seychellois teams are Premium Spikers, the men's division one league champion last year; Beau Vallon, another men's top division side; and Cascade, the women's division one league champion in 2019. 

Another women's team from Seychelles, City Ladies, had to forfeit the competition as not all of its players were released from work to make the trip. 

Cascade the women’s division one league champion in 2019. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

The Seychelles' volleyball teams that have done well in previous CAVB Zone 7 competitions is Arsu -- a women's team from the southern part of the Seychelles main island of Mahe -- having won the regional championship more than 10 times. Arsu finished third in last year's competition.

For the first time in the history of the tournament, 28 teams --16 men and 12 women --will be vying for the title from February 15-22.

Zone 7 of the African Volleyball Confederation includes countries from the Indian Ocean – Madagascar, Mauritius, the Comoros and Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean.

There will be 88 matches in this year's event based on a league format at the beginning and going to knock-out round in the latter stages for a place in the finals. Matches will take places at the Grand Palais des Sports de Mahamasima and Ankorodrano Gymnase, both gymnasiums located in the centre of Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital city.

Last year's winners were Gendarmerie from the host country which overcame Olympique Goyaves from Mauritius with a score of 3-1 in the Men's final. While on the women's side, it was an all-Mauritian affair with Quatre Bornes VBC defeating Oranges Club Sportif d'amities 3-1.

The men's team from Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, Premium Spikers finished last among the 12 teams.

Winners of the CAVB Zone 7 Championship qualify for the African Club Championship which is Africa's most prestigious club volleyball tournament.