Iranian Volleyball Premier League Finals:
Foolad completes fightback to defend title
Foolad Sirjan defended its Iranian Volleyball Premier League title after defeating Shahdab Yazd 3-1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22) in Game 3 of the Finalsin Tehran on Thursday.
Having lost the first game of the best-of-three series in four sets, Foolad had to come out victorious in a five-set thriller on Tuesday to force a decider, before Thursday’s triumph secured the third Iranian top-flight crown for Behrouz Ataei’s men.
Foolad’s Ali Hajipour was the star of the show on Thursday, chipping in a game-high 27 points, while outside-hitter Amirhossein Esfandiar and middle-blocker Mohammad Valizadeh contributed with 20 and 10 points for Ataei’s side, respectively.
Veteran opposite Amir Ghafour was the only Shahdab player to finish in double figures, scoring 20 points.
Hajipour’s heroics saw the 23-year-old walk away with the MVP and Best Opposite prizes in the awarding ceremony.
Foolad captain Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi and Shahdab’s Masoud Gholami, who scored seven points apiece in the final, shared the Best Middle-Blocker award, while Esfandiar and Pakistani Ali Usman Faryad of Shahdab were named the Best Outside-Hitters.
Mohammadreza Moazen took the Best Libero prize, with his 47-year-old Shahdab teammate Alireza Behboudi claiming the Best Setter award.
“We were confident of winning the title. That’s the mindset we had since day one. My players were caught off-guard in the first game of the finals, but I had no doubt we were going to bounce back in Game 2, and my team was in its best form for today’s game,” said Ataei, who now has four major titles under his belt with Foolad since parting ways the Iranian national team head coach in October 2023 – all coming at the expense of Shahdab over the past 12 months.
Foolad beat Shahdab to the Iranian league crown last April, and then went on to win the AVC Asian Club Championship final in September, before lifting the Iranian Volleyball Cup trophy in February.
Ataei’s side, which also won a precious bronze medal at the Club World Championship last December, settled for a fourth-place finish in the 12-team table of the regular season before defeating Mehregan Nour and Shahrdari Urmia in the playoffs for a place in the final.