AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup:
Winning streak snapped as Iran undone by Kazakhstan
Iran was left heartbroken after failing to complete yet another comeback at the AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup, suffering a 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 22-25, 26-24) defeat against Kazakhstan in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Wednesday.
Trailing by two sets, Iranian girls rallied with a much-improved performance in the third set and then stormed to a 7-0 lead in the fourth – appearing poised to force a decider, before Kazakhstan mounted a late comeback to preserve its perfect record in the Vietnamese capital.
The defeat ended a three-game winning run for Iran, which had beaten Indonesia and the Philippines in two five-set thrillers either side of a 3-1 win against the New Zealand earlier in the competition.
Opposite-spiker Tatyana Nikitina topped the scoring chart for Kazakhstan with 15 points, followed by middle-blocker Saniya Balagazinova, who contributed with 11.
Outside-hitter Masoumeh Qadami, meanwhile, chipped in 15 points for Iran, with Elaheh Poursaleh (13 points) and Sepinoud Dastbarjan (11) also finishing in double figures.
“I think the lack of confidence cost us in the first two sets, but once we found the belief, we showed our true quality, and matched Kazakhstan point for point,” Dastbarjan said after the game.
Later in the day, the Philippines came out victorious in straight sets (25-17, 25-21, 25-18) against the New Zealand to into second place in the Pool B table behind Kazakhstan.
Iranian girls will still have the chance to join Kazakhstan, which will play the Philippines today, in progressing to semifinals with a victory over Mongolia in their final outing in the group phase.
“The Kazakhstan team had a height advantage, which made the difference today as our players struggled in the first two sets,” Iran head coach Lee Do-hee said after the game.
The South Korean still shrugged off the defeat, saying: “We simply weren’t well-prepared for this game. I’ll tell my players that the match against Mongolia is even more crucial, so I don’t consider today’s defeat a major setback.”