Iran National Volleyball Team's Second Victory Against the USA

The second match between the volleyball teams of Iran and the USA at the 12,000-seat Azadi Hall ended with a 3-0 victory for Iran, just like the first match. The Iranian national volleyball team faced the USA in the eighth match of the 2015 World League with a lineup including Marouf, Mousavi, Gholami, Mirzajanpour, Abadi-Pour, and Mahmoudi. Women were again barred from entering the venue, similar to the previous game. Nevertheless, the stadium was filled with enthusiastic spectators who continuously cheered for the Iranian national team. The American volleyball players refrained from drinking water before the Maghrib call to prayer out of respect for some fasting spectators, which drew attention from IRIB and other Iranian media. The two teams were tied at 10 points in the first game, but Mirzajanpour's serves and solid defense at the net, along with flawless receptions in the backcourt, allowed Iran to win the set 25-20. Mirzajanpour was the top scorer in the first game with six points. In the second set, with a score of 16-11 in favor of Iran, the teams went to a technical timeout. This set was also won by Kovač's team with a score of 25-21, with Shahram Mahmoudi scoring 11 points to be the best player of the set. In the third set, the Americans took the lead, but Marouf's teammates once again played cohesively, winning 25-19 to secure three valuable points. The USA left Iran without earning any points, having lost all six points in these two consecutive matches. Shahram Mahmoudi was recognized as the top scorer of the match with 16 points, while Aaron Russell from the USA was the best player on his team with 9 points. In the Group B standings, the USA is at the top with 17 points, Poland is second with 16 points, and Iran is third with 13 points. Russia is at the bottom with 2 points and no wins. Iran will face Poland next on Friday in Tehran, while Russia will host the USA. David Lee, the captain of the USA volleyball team, told reporters, 'Iran was excellent in this match, especially Marouf, who provided good sets to Shahram Mahmoudi. Mirzajanpour was also among the best players for Iran.' John Speraw, the USA coach, stated that the atmosphere of the stadium contributed to their loss in the previous game, but in today's match, Iran was able to defeat them. Kovač confirmed this. Saeed Marouf, the captain of the Iranian national team, said, 'Just as we forgot our losses, we must also forget these two victories and think about future games.' Slobodan Kovač also mentioned in the press conference that both results were 3-0, but at any moment, the USA could have come back, which our good serves did not allow. The head coach of the Iranian national team emphasized, 'I respect the USA; they are the best team in the world, and to play better, we must take advantage of their discipline. We have four tough games ahead. Poland is the world champion, but they are not better than the USA.'