Iranian Volleyball Premier League Finals:
Foolad wins five-set thriller to force Game 3
The Iranian Volleyball Premier League crown will be on the line when Foolad Sirjan and Shahdab Yazd square off in the decisive Game 3 of the Finals at Tehran’s Federation Hall today.
Defending champion Foolad edged out its familiar foe 3-2 to level the best-of-three series at 1-1 on Tuesday.
Stepping on to the court on the back of a four-set defeat in Game 1, Foolad looked to be on its way to an easy victory when it took the first two sets 25-23 and 25-22.
However, Shahdab fought back to win the third and fourth sets by a 25-20 scoreline and push the contest into a decider.
In a nail-biting fifth set that saw the lead change hands multiple times, Foolad emerged victorious 18-16.
Prolific opposite Ali Hajipour contributed with a game-high 20 points for Foolad, with outside-hitters Amirhossein Esfandiar and Esmaeil Mosafer chipping in 18 and 13 points, respectively.
Cuban Javier Concepción topped the scoring chart for Shahdab with 20 points, followed by fellow-middle blocker Masoud Gholami and opposite Mohsen Delavari, who had 14 points apiece.
Veteran opposite Amir Ghafour, who stole the show for Shahdab in Game 1 with 29 points, was limited to just 10 on Tuesday.
This is the fourth final showpiece featuring Foolad and Shahdab over the past 12 months, with the former coming out on top in all three previous occasions.
Foolad beat Shahdab to the Iranian Premier League crown last April, and then went on to come out victorious in the AVC Asian Club Championship showdown in September, before Behrouz Ataei’s men lifted the Iranian Volleyball Cup trophy thanks to a straight-set triumph in February’s final.