TEHRAN – Iran eased past USA in straight sets (25-19, 25-23, 25-23) in 2021 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Wednesday night.
Saber Kazemi earned 18 points for Iran and Garrett Muagututia and Benjamin Patch both scored 12 points for USA.
On Thursday, Serbia edged past Iran 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 26-28, 25-22, 15-8) in.
Iran’s Amir Hussein Esfandiar scored 17 points, while Luburic Drazen earned 23 points for Serbia.
Iran was defeated against Germany 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 19-25, 25-19, 13-15) in the final match of Week 3 in the league on Friday.
Saber Kazemi notched a match-high 27 points and Germany’s Weber Linus scored 15 points.
Team Melli will rest three days and start the Week 4 with matches against Australia, Brazil and Slovenia respectively.
The competition format is a single round robin pool with each of the 16 teams facing every other ahead of semifinals between the top four of the standings.
The semifinal winners will clash for the title, with the losers playing out for the bronze medal.
The tournament is being held in Rimini, Italy within a secure ‘bubble’ with all hygiene protocols in place to ensure the health and well-being of all athletes, officials and staff throughout the competition.